"N.-^ 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


•/ 


The  World's  Famous  Orations 


VOL.  I 
GREECE 

432  B.C.-334  B.C. 


WlLiJAM     JF.NNINGS     BRYAN 


THE 

WORLD'5 

FAMOUS 

ORATIONS 


WILLIAM  JENNINGS   BRYAN 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

FRANCIS  W.  HALSEY 

ASSOCIA'I'E    EDITOR 

-^ 

SUBSCRIPTION  EDITION 
IN   TEN  VOLUMES 

Vol.   I 
GREECE 

FUNK   &  WAGNALLS  COMPANY 

Few  York  and  London 


( 'nl'^•l;  [i;iri      I'Jdi",     f.v 

I'l'XK     \-     WACXAI.T.S     COM  TANA' 

\/'i-iiilr,i    ill    the    riiifc^l    Siiilr.s-   <'l    .liiicyica] 


c 

Lil 


-iiry 


PREFACE 

It' is  now  several  years  since  I  began  to  con 
sider  the  propriety  of  making  a  collection  of 
the  famous  orations  of  the  world  for  the  benefit 
of  students,  and  with  that  purpose  in  view,  wher- 
ever an  opportunity  offered,  I  have  conferred 
with  men  who  were  able  and  willing  to  give 
advice  as  to  the  selections.  At  iirst  m.y  intention 
was  to  use  only  enough  orations  for  a  single 
volume,  but  I  afterward  became  convinced  that 
the  plan  suggested  to  me  by  the  publishers  of 
this  collection  would  be  a  better  one,  namely : 
to  select  enough  of  the  great  orations  to  fill  ten 
volumes,  but  so  to  group  them  as  to  permit  of 
division  into  volumes  arranged  chronologically 
as  to  countries. 

In  selecting  the  more  important  of  the  great 
speeches  there  is  little  room  for  the  exercise  of 


PREFACE 

indepejulor.t  jiidgnient,  for  mankind  has  already 
pronounced  verdicts  which  no  editor  can  ignore. 
Ikit  outside  of  what  may  be  called  the  accepted 
masterpieces,  tl^ere  has  been  some  opportunity 
for  choice,  and  accordingly  for  this  series  orations 
have  been  chosen  which,  considering  the  man, 
the  subject,  and  the  occasion,  were  thought  likely 
t^j  be  the  m.ost  useful  to  those  who  may  desire 
to  stud}'  history  as  portrayed  in  great  forensic 
efforts. 

Despairing  of  finding  the  time  to  make  this 
collection  unaided,  I  gladly  availed  myself  of 
the  opportunity  offered  by  the  present  publish- 
ers to  do  the  work  in  conjunction  with  IMr. 
Francis  W.  Ilalsey,  whose  wide  experience  has 
eminently  fitted  him  for  such  an  undertaking. 
ITe  collected  a  large  amount  of  material  along 
the  lines  above  indicated  and  then  submitted  it 
to  me  for  my  approval  or  rejection.  After 
examining  the  collection  he  had  made,  covering 
the  history  of  oratory  from  the  earliest  Greeks 
to  the  present  day,  changes  in  the  arrangement 
were  made  by  me,  some  of  the  orations  were 


PREFACE 


eliminated  and  others  added.  Mr.  Halsey,  I 
may  add,  is  entitled  to  the  sole  credit  for  one 
interesting  feature  of  the  collection  as  it  stands 
— namely,  the  speeches  of  North  American  In- 
dians. As  these  men  were  the  first  American  ora- 
tors, specimens  of  their  eloquence  deserve  a  place 
in  these  volumes. 

During  my  recent  travels  abroad  I  had  many 
(opportunities  to  consult  public  men  in  regard 
to  .>!K'cches  of  the  orators  of  England,  Ireland, 
Scotland  and  Continental  Europe.  In  the  com- 
pilation of  the  work  I  have  been  placed  under 
special  obligations  to  the  following  public  men 
of  Europe,  to  whom  I  desire  here  to  extend  my 
thanks : 

Rt.  Hon.  Sir  Henry  Campbell-Bannennan, 
M.  P.,  the  Bi-itish  Prime  .Minister. 

Rt.  Hon.  Arthur  J.  Balfour,  M.  P.,  formerly 
Prime  ]\Iinist.'r. 

The  Earl  of  Rosebery,  formerly  Prime  Min- 
ister. 

Lord  Loreburn  (Sii'  Robert  Reid),  Lord  High 
Chancellor  of  England. 


PREFACE 


Rt.  Hon.  Joseph  Chamberlain,  M.  P.,  formerly; 

Colonial  Secretary. 

Lord  Robert  Cecil,  son  of  the  late  Marquis  of 
Salisbury. 

Rt.  Hon.  Winston  Churchill,  M.  P.,  son  of  the 
late  Lord  Randolph  Churchill,  and  now  Under- 
Secretary  to  the  Colonies. 

Rt.  Hon.  Herbert  Henry  Asquith,  M.  P., 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer. 

Rt.  Hon.  Herbert  J.  Gladstone,  M.  P.,  son  of 
the  late  William  E.  Gladstone,  and  now  Home 
Secretai-y. 

Rt.  Hon.  James  Bryce,  M.  P.,  Chief  Secretary 
to  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland. 

John  AV.  Redmond,  Esq.,  M.  P. 

John  Dillon,  Esq.,  M.  P. 

John  A.  Bright,  Esq.,  son  of  the  late  Rt.  Hon. 
John  Bright. 

Viscount  Peel,  grandson  of  Sir  Robert  Peel, 
Bt.  and  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
1884-95. 

C.  F.  Moberly  Bell,  Esq.,  Manager  of  the 
London  Times. 

viii 


PREFACE 

M.  Georges  Clemenceau,  French  IMinister  of 
the  Interior/ 

Baron  D 'Estournelles  de  Constant,  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  of  France,  member  of  the  Court 
of  The  Hague. 

Count  Albert  Apponyi,  Leader  of  the  National 
Party  and  formerly  President  of  the  Hungarian 
House  of  Representatives. 

Franz  Kossuth,  son  of  the  late  Louis  Kossuth, 
and  now  a  deputy  in  the  Hungarian  House  of 
Representatives. 

William  Jennings  Bryan. 

Paris,  August  13,  1906. 


1  Since  the  above  was  written,  M.  Clemenceau  (in  October,  1906) 
bas  become  Prime  Minister  of  France. 


INTRODUCTION 


The  age  of  oratory  has  not  passed;  nor  will 
it  pass.  The  press,  instead  of  displacing  the  ora- 
tor, has  given  him  a  lar«(!r  audience  and  enabled 
him  to  do  a  more  cxtendod  work.  As  long  as 
tiiere  are  human  rights  to  be  defended;  as  long 
as  there  are  great  interests  to  be  guarded ;  as 
long  as  the  welfare  of  nations  is  a  matter  for 
discussion,  so  long  will  public  speaking  have  it* 
place. 

There  have  been  many  definitions  of  eloquence. 
Daniel  Webster  has  declared  that  it  consists  in 
the  man,  in  the  subject,  and  in  the  occasion.  No 
one  can  question  the  truth  of  his  statement. 
Without  the  man,  the  subject  and  the  occasion 
are  valueless,  but  it  is  equally  true  that,  with- 
out a  great  subject  and  a  proper  occasion,  a  man 
speaks  without  effect.  The  speaker,  moreover, 
is  eloquent  in  proportion  as  he  knows  what  he 
is  talking  about  and  means  what  he  says.     Id 


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INTRODUCTION 


other  words,  knowledge  and  earnestness  are  two 
of  the  most  important  requisites  of  successful 
speaking. 

TViiile  oratorical  ability  has,  at  times,  mani- 
fested itself  in  several  generations  of  one  family, 
it  can  not  be  said  that  heredity  is  an  element  of 
importance,  for  nearly  all  the  great  orators  of 
the  world  have  appeared  with  little  or  nothing 
in  a  preceding  generation  to  give  promise  of 
prominence.  An  orator  is  largely  a  product  of 
his  environment.  One  who  is  born  into  a  great 
conflict,  or  is  surrounded  by  conditions  which 
compel  study  and  investigation,  and  who  be- 
comes enthused  with  a  great  purpose,  soon  at- 
tracts attention  as  a  speaker.  He  is  listened  to 
because  he  has  something  to  say ;  because  he  him- 
;elf  feels  he  makes  others  feel.  Because  he 
conceives  that  he  has  a  mission,  he  touches  and 
moves  those  whom  he  addresses.  Eloquent  speech 
is  not  from  lip  to  ear,  but  rather  from  lnuirt  tc 
heart. 

"While  it  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  oratoi 
to  master  his  subject  and  to  speak  with  earnest 


INTRODUCTION 


ness,  his  speech  can  he  made  more  effective  by 
the  addition  of  clean  3ss,  brevity  and  apt  illus- 
trations. 

Clearness  of  statement  is  of  very  great  impor- 
tance. It  is  not  sufficient  to  say  that  there  are 
certain  self-evident  truths;  it  is  more  accurate 
to  say  that  all  truth  is  self-evident.  Because 
truth  is  self-evident,  the  best  service  that  one  can 
render  a  truth  is  to  state  it  so  clearly  that  it  can 
be  comprehended  ;  for  a  truth  once  comprehended 
needs  no  argument  in  its  support.  In  debate, 
therefore,  one's  first  effort  should  be  to  state 
his  own  side  so  clearly  and  concisely  as  to  make 
the  principles  involved  easily  understood.  Ifis 
second  object  should  be  so  to  divest  his  oppo- 
nent's argument  of  useless  verbiage  as  to  make 
it  stand  forth  clearly;  for  as  truth  is  self-evident, 
so  error  bears  upon  its  face  its  own  condemna- 
tion. Error  needs  only  to  be  exposed  to  be  over- 
thrown. 

Brevity  of  statement  also  contributes  to  the 
force  of  a  speaker.  It  is  possible  so  to  enfold 
a  truth  in  long-draw^n-out  sentences  as  practi- 


INTRODUCTION 


cally  to  conceal  it.  The  ei>'gram  is  powerful  be- 
cause it  is  full  of  meat  an  i  short  enough  to  be 
remembered.  To  know  when  to  stop  is  almost 
as  important  as  to  know  where  to  begin  and 
how  to  proceed.  The  ability  to  condense  great 
thoughts  into  small  words  and  brief  sentences 
is  an  attribute  of  genius.  Often  one  lays  down 
a  book  with  the  feeling  that  the  author  has  "said 
nothing  with  elaboration,"  while  in  perusing  an- 
other book  one  finds  a  whole  sermon  in  a  single 
sentence,  or  an  unanswerable  argument  couched 
in  a  well-turned  phrase. 

The  interrogatory  is  frequently  employed  by  the 
orator,  and  when  wisely  used  is  irresistible.  What 
dynamic  power,  for  instance,  there  is  in  that 
question  propounded  by  Christ,  "What  shall  it 
profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose 
his  own  soul  ? ' '  Volumes  could  not  have  pre- 
sented so  effectively  the  truth  that  he  sought  to 
impress  upon  his  hearers. 

The  illustration  has  no  unimportant  place  in 
the  equipment  of  the  orator.  We  understand  a 
thing  more  easily  when  we  know  that  it  is  like 


INTRODUCTION 


something  which  we  have  already  seen.  Illus- 
trations may  be  drawn  from  two  sources — nature 
and  literature — and  of  the  two,  those  from  na- 
ture have  the  greater  weight.  All  learning  is 
valuable;  all  history  is  useful.  By  knowing  what 
has  been  we  can  better  judge  the  future ;  by 
knowing  how  men  have  acted  heretofore  we  can 
understand  how  they  will  act  again  in  simi'.ai' 
circumstances.  But  people  know  nature  better 
than  they  know  books,  and  the  illustrations 
drawn  from  every-day  life  are  the  m.ost  effective. 

If  the  orator  can  seize  upon  something  within 
the  sight  or  hearing  of  his  audience — something 
that  comes  to  his  notice  at  the  moment  and  as  if 
not  thought  of  before — it  will  add  to  the  effect- 
iveness of  the  illustration.  For  instance,  Paul's 
speech  to  the  Athenians  derived  a  large  j)art  of 
its  strength  from  the  fact  that  he  called  atten- 
tion to  an  altar  near  by,  erected  "to  the  Unknown 
God,"  and  then  proceeded  to  declare  unto  them 
the  God  whom  they  ignorantly  worshiped. 

Classical  allusions  ornament  a  speech,  their 
valuft  being  greater  of  course  when  addressed  to 


INTRODUCTION 


those  who  are  faiiiiliar  with  their  source.  Poetry 
can  often  be  used  to  advantag'e,  especially  when 
the  sentiment  is  appropriate  and  is  set  forth 
in  graceful  language.  By  far  the  most  useful 
quotations  for  an  orator,  however,  are  those 
from  Holy  Writ.  The  people  are  more  familiar 
with  the  Bible  than  vrith  any  other  single  book, 
and  lessons  di"awn  from  it  reinforce  a  speech. 
The  Proverbs  of  Solomon  abound  in  sentences 
which  aptly  express  living  truths.  Abraham 
Lincoln  used  scripture  quotations  very  fre- 
c[uently  and  very  powerfully.  Probably  no  Bible 
quotation,  or,  for  that  matter,  no  quotation  from 
any  book  ever  has  had  more  influence  upon  a 
I)eople  than  the  famous  quotation  made  by  Lin- 
coln in  his  Springfield  (111.)  speech  of  1858, — 
"A  house  divided  against  itself  can  not  stand." 
It  is  said  that  he  had  searched  for  some  time 
for  a  phrase  which  would  present  in  the  strong- 
est possible  way  the  proposition  he  intended  to 
advance — namely,  that  the  nation  could  not 
endure  half-slave  and  half -free. 

The  object  of  public  speaking  usually  is  to 


INTRODUCTION 


persuade.  Some  one,  in  describing  the  difference 
between  Cicero  and  Demosthenes,  remarked : 
"When  Cicero  spoke  people  said:  'How  well  Cic- 
ero speaks!'  but  when  Demosthenes  spoke  they 
said,  'Let  us  go  against  Philip.'  " — the  difference 
being  that  Cicero  impressed  himself  upon  the 
audience,  while  Demosthenes  impressed  his  sub- 
ject upon  them.  Whether  or  not  this  compar- 
ison be  a  fair  one,  it  at  least  presents  an  im- 
portant truth.  It  is  a  compliment  to  a  public 
speaker  that  the  audience  should  discuss  what  he 
says  rather  than  his  manner  of  saying  it;  more 
complimentary  that  they  should  remember  his 
arguments,  than  that  they  should  praise  his  rhet- 
oric. The  orator  should  seek  to  conceal  himself 
behind  his  subject.  If  he  presents  himself  in 
every  speech  he  is  sure  to  become  monotonous,  if 
not  offensive.  If,  however,  he  focuses  attention 
upon  his  subject,  he  can  find  an  infinite  number 
of  themes  and,  therefore,  give  variety  to  his 
speech. 

In  reading  great  orations  one  not  only  learns 
something  of  the  mental  methods  and  style  of 


INTRODUCTION 


the  orator,  but  obtains  an  epitome  of  the  history 
of  the  times.  As  each  important  speech  is  vir- 
tually a  product  of  the  entire  life  of  the  speaker, 
so  the  speeches  delivered  at  great  crises  in  na- 
tional history  have  been  products  of  the  condi- 
tions that  called  them  forth.  Nowhere  is  so  much 
information  crowded  into  the  same  number  of 
words  as  in  a  memorable  speech.  The  greatest 
of  all  the  orations  that  have  come  down  to  us 
from  the  past  is  the  one  by  Demosthenes,  known 
as  "The  Oration  on  the  Crown,"  which  is  in- 
cluded in  the  volume  on  Greece  in  this  series.  It 
possesses  every  requisite.  It  is  persuasive;  it  is 
argumentative,  and  the  arguments  are  so  skilfully 
arranged  as  to  produce  the  greatest  effect;  it  is 
clear  in  statement;  it  is  eloquent  and  contains 
passages  that  can  not  be  surpassed  in  invective; 
and  it  abounds  in  definitions  and  distinctions 
which  are  as  valuable  to-day  as  when  they  were 
uttered. 

The  reader  will  note  the  appeal  which  De- 
mosthenes made  to  the  sense  of  justice,  to  which 
all  arguments  should  be  addressed.     He  called 


INTRODUCTION 


attention  at  the  beginning  to  the  well  recog- 
nized fact  that  his  own  risk  was  greater  than 
that  of  yEschines;  for  while  the  latter  could,  at 
most,  sufl:or  .  r.ne  disappointment  at  failure  in  the 
prosecution,  he  (Demosthenes),  if  he  lost  wou]d 
forfeit  the  regard  of  hi.s  peox)le.  And  as  he  ap- 
peared in  his  own  defense,  he  reminded  them 
that  people  take  more  pleasure  in  hearing  invec- 
tive and  accusations  than  in  hearing  a  man 
praise  himself;  and  yet  if  he,  himself,  did  not 
set  forth  the  arguments  to  be  made  in  his  own 
behalf,  he  would  be  without  defense. 

The  definition  which  Demosthenes  gives  of 
the  statesman  is  worth  remembering.     He  says : 

"Yet  uuderstaud  miC.  Of  what  a  statesman  may 
be  responsi'ole  for  I  allow  the  utmost  scrutiny; 
I  deprecate  it  not.  AA'hat  are  his  functions?  To 
observe  things  in  the  beginning,  to  foresee  end 
[<>}•(  tell  them  to  others, — tJtis  I  Jtave  done:  again, 
wherever  lie  finds  delays,  haeJurcrdiK ss.  igno- 
rance, jealousies,  vices  inherent  and  unavuid- 
ahle  in  all  communities,  to  contract  them  inUi 
the  fiarroircsf  compass,  and,  on  th^?  other  It.and, 
to  promote  vnanimily  and  friendsnip  and  zeal 


INTRODUCTION 


in  the  discharge  of  duty.     All  this,  too,  I  have 
performed. '' 

Statesmanship  not  only  requires  a  knowledge 
of  the  principles  that  control  human  beings,  but 
it  also  requires  moral  courage.  Demosthenes 
understood  the  demands  upon  a  statesman  and 
satisfied  his  audience  that  he  had  been  equal  to 
these  demands. 

In  the  discussion  of  bribery  Demosthenes  pre- 
sented a  thought  which  may  well  be  borne  in 
mind:  ''But  by  refusing  the  price  of  cor- 
ruption I  have  overcome  Philip ;  for  as  the 
offerer  of  a  bribe,  if  it  be  accepted,  has  van- 
quished the  taker,  so  thy  person  who  refuses  it 
and  is  not  corrupted,  has  vanquished  the  person 
offering."  No  one  has  ever  thrown  a  stronger 
light  on  the  subject  of  bribery,  or  more  accu- 
rately stated  the  relation  between  the  man  who 
gives  and  the  man  who  accepts  a  bribe. 

When  I  was  a  young  man  I  bought  a  ten-vol- 
ume set  of  orations  in  order  to  obtain  one  speech, 
and  that  speech  was  valuable  to  me  because  it 
contained  one  sentence.     The  speech  referred  to 


INTRODUCTION 


was  the  one  by  Pericles/  on  those  who  had  died 
in  the  Peloponnesian  War.  The  sentence  reads: 
' '  It  was  for  such  a  country  then  that  these  men, 
nobly  resolving  not  to  have  it  taken  from  them, 
fell  fighting;  and  every  one  of  their  survivors 
may  well  be  willing  to  suffer  in  its  behalf." 

Having  described  the  glories  of  Greece  and  the 
advantages  of  the  government,  he  pointed  out 
that  her  people,  recognizing  the  blessings  of  citi- 
zenship, were  willing  to  die  rather  than  surren- 
der those  blessings.  He  thus  states,  in  a  few 
words,  the  secret  of  a  nation's  strength — love  of 
country,  justified  by  the  government's  care  for 
the  welfare  of  the  people. 

One  of  the  speeches  of  Socrates  as  reported  by 
Plato  contains  a  noble  paragraph  which  rebukes 
the  worldly-minded  of  to-day.  It  presents  a 
lofty  ideal  of  life  and  deserves  to  be  committed 
to  memory: 

' '  0  Athenians,  I  honor  and  love  you ;  but 
I  shall  obey  God  rather  than  you;  and  as  long 
as  I  breathe  and  am  able  I  shall  not  cease  study- 

■  It  will  be  founrl  in  volume  one  of  this  series. 


INTRODUCTION 


ing  philosophy  and  exhorting  you  and  warning 
any  one  of  you  I  may  happen  to  meet,  saying, 
as  I  have  been  accustomed  to  do,  '  0  best  of  men, 
seeing  you  are  an  Athenian  of  a  city  the  most 
powerful  and  most  renowned  for  wisdom  and 
strength,  are  you  not  ashamed  of  being  careful 
for  riches,  how  you  may  acquire  them  in  greatest 
abundance,  and  for  glory  and  honor,  but  care 
not  nor  take  any  thought  for  wisdom  and  truth, 
and  for  your  soul,  how  it  may  be  made  most 
perfect?'  " 

The  speeches  of  Cicero  rank  next  to  those  of 
Demosthenes  in  their  wealth  of  lessons  to  the 
student  of  oratory.  All  the  vast  learning  of 
the  great  Roman  was  used  to  illumine  his  foren- 
sic efforts.  The  speech  against  Verres,  which 
will  be  found  in  the  volume  devoted  to  Roman 
speeches,  is  generally  regarded  as  the  one  which 
best  displays  his  varied  talents. 

As  my  object  has  been  to  make  this  collection 
as  useful  as  possible,  I  have  included  the  frag- 
ments that  have  come  down  to  us  of  the  memora- 
ble speeches  of  the  Gracchi  and  the  defense  of 

^  Y  Y  I 


INTRODUCTION 


his  own  humble  birth  made  by  Caius  Marius  to 
the  people  of  Rome.  The  following  from  Tiberius 
Gracchus  gives  a  glimpse  of  the  conditions  that 
called  forth  the  eloquence  of  the  Gracchi  and 
shows  also  how  largely  a  man's  work  is  shaped 
by  the  times  in  which  he  lives: 

"The  wild  beasts  of  Italy  have  their  caves  to 
retire  to,  but  the  brave  men  who  spill  their  blood 
in  her  cause,  have  nothing  left  but  air  and  light. 
Without  houses,  without  settled  habitations,  they 
wander  from  place  to  place  with  their  wives 
and  children;  and  their  generals  do  but  mock 
them  when,  at  the  head  of  their  armies,  they  ex- 
hort their  men  to  fight  for  their  sepulchers  and 
the  gods  of  their  hearths :  for  among  such  num- 
bers, perhaps  there  is  not  one  Roman  who  has 
an  altar  that  has  belonged  to  his  ancestors,  or  a 
sepulcher  in  which  their  ashes  rest.  The  private 
soldiers  fight  and  die,  to  advance  the  wealth  and 
luxury  of  the  great;  and  they  are  called  masters 
of  the  world,  without  having  a  sod  to  call  their 
own. ' ' 

^lore  than  one  of  those  who  peruse  these  vol- 
umes may  have  had  occasion  to  make  a  defense 


INTRODUCTION 


similar  to  that  of  Mariiis,  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  one  better  than  his  was  ever  offered.  It 
includes  the  following  words : 

"They  despise  my  humbleness  of  birth;  I  con- 
temn their  imbecility.  My  condition  is  made  an 
objection  to  me;  their  misconduct  is  a  reproach 
to  them.  The  circumstances  of  birth,  indeed,  I 
consider  as  one  and  the  same  to  all ;  but  think 
that  he  who  best  exerts  himself  is  the  noblest. 
If  the  patricians  justly  despise  me,  let  them  also 
despise  their  own  ancestors,  whose  nobility,  like 
mine,  had  its  origin  in  merit.  They  envy  me  the 
honor  that  I  have  received;  let  them  also  envy 
me  the  toils,  the  abstinence,  and  the  perils  by 
which  I  obtained  that  honor." 

If  space  permitted  quotations  might  be  made 
from  other  speeches  here  given,  for  each  has  its 
own  distinctive  merits.  In  Sheridan's  speech  at 
the  trial  of  Warren  Hastings,  the  reader  will  find 
some  excellent  examples  of  invective.  I  must 
(piote  a  single  passage  from  that  speech : 

"If  a  stranger  had  at  this  time  [in  1782]  gone; 
into    the    kingdom   of   (Jude,    ignorant   of   M'hat 

xxiii 


INTRODUCTION 


had  happened  since  the  death  of  Sujah  Dowiah, 
that  man  who  with  a  savage  heart  had  still  great 
lines  of  character,  and  who  with  all  his  ferocity 
in  war,  had  still  with  a  cultivating  hand  pre- 
served to  his  country  the  riches  which  it  derived 
from  benignant  skies,  and  a  prolific  soil — if  this 
stranger,  ignorant  of  all  that  had  happened  in 
the  short  interval,  and  observing  the  wide  and 
general  devastation,  and  all  the  horrors  of  the 
scene — of  plains  unclothed  and  brown — of  vege- 
tation burnt  up  and  extinguished — of  villages 
depopulated  and  in  ruin — of  temples  unroofed 
and  perishing — of  reservoirs  broken  down  and 
dry — he  would  naturally  inquire,  What  war  had 
thus  laid  waste  the  fertile  fields  of  this  once 
beautiful  and  opulent  country  ?  What  civil  dis- 
sensions have  happened  thus  to  tear  asunder, 
and  separate  the  happy  societies  that  once  pos- 
sessed those  villages?  What  religious  rage  had, 
with  unholy  violence,  demolished  those  temples, 
and  disturbed  fervent,  but  unobtrudiug  piety  in 
the  exercise  of  its  duties  ?  AYhat  merciless  enemy 
had  thus  spread  the  horrors  of  fire  and  sword  1 
What  severe  visitation  of  Providence  had  thus 
dried  up  the  mountains,  and  taken  from  the  face 
of  the  earth  every  vestige  of  green?— or  rather, 
what  monsters  had   crawled  over  the  country, 


INTRODUCTION 


tainting  and  poisoning  what  the  voracious  ap- 
petite could  not  dev'our?  To  such  questions, 
what  must  be  the  answer  ?  No  wars  have  ravaged 
these  lands  and  depopulated  these  villages— no 
civil  discords  have  been  felt — no  religious  rage — ■ 
no  merciless  enemy — no  affliction  of  Providence, 
^^'hich,  while  it  scourged  for  the  moment,  cut  off 
the  sources  of  resuscitation — no  voracious  and 
poisoning  monsters — no ;  all  this  has  been  ac- 
complished by  the  friendship,  generosity  and 
kindness  of  the  English  nation.  They  have  em- 
braced us  with  their  protecting  arms — and,  lo, 
these  are  the  fruits  of  their  alliance." 

There  is  much  that  the  public  speaker  can 
study  to  advantage  in  the  orations  of  Burke, 
O'Conneli  and  Gladstone.  The  parliamentary 
struggles  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  have 
naturally  resulted  in  the  development  of  many 
masters  in  the  art  of  speech,  but  the  nations  of 
Continental  Europe  have  not  been  overlooked  in 
the  selections  here  made.  It  has  been  the  inten- 
tion to  give  both  sides  in  every  contest  fairly. 
The  speech  of  ^schines  against  Demosthenes  is 
given,  as  well  as  the  unrivak'd  defense  offered 


INTRODUCTION 


by  the  greatest  orator  of  ancient  Greece.  Cic- 
ero's speech  against  Catiline  is  accompanied  by 
extracts  from  the  speeches  of  Catiline.  So,  too, 
are  given  the  speeches  of  Csesar  and  Cato  for 
and  against  the  punishment  by  death  of  the 
Catiline  conspirators. 

The  same  rule  has  been  followed  in  English 
and  American  politics.  Particular  care  has  been 
taken  to  present  both  sides  of  a  great  contro- 
versy in  the  speeches  of  representative  men. 
Burke,  Chatham  and  ]\Iansfield  represent  the 
divided  English  sentiment  in  the  American  Rev- 
olution; Pitt  and  Fox,  English  sentiment  as  to 
treating  with  Napoleon  as  First  Consul;  Glad- 
stone and  Beaconsfield,  their  respective  parties 
in  England's  own  affairs;  while  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain speaks  for  the  conservative  government  re- 
cently overthrown;  and  Sir  Henry  Campbell- 
Bannerman  outlines  the  policy  of  the  new  Lib- 
eral government. 

I  have  thought  it  wise  to  include  by  his  per- 
mission, as  representing  the  present  Prime  ^lin- 
ister  still   further,   the  speech   delivei'ed  by   Sir 


INTRODUCTION 


Henry  at  the  opening  of  the  recent  London  ses- 
sion of  the  Interparliamentary  Union.  That 
speech  is  not  only  characterized  by  lofty  ideas, 
but  presents  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  peace 
and  moreover  it  contains  one  of  the  most  thrill- 
ing sentences  uttered  by  a  statesman  in  office 
in  modern  times.  Representatives  of  the  Russian 
Duma  were  present  at  this  session  of  the  Inter- 
parliamentary Union,  but  the  Duma  had  been 
dissolved  after  they  left  home.  In  referring  to 
the  fact  that  this  dissolution  had  been  accom- 
panied by  the  promise  of  a  new  election,  the 
Prime  IMinister  paraphrased  a  sentence  long 
used  in  reference  to  Kings  and  Emperors  and 
declared,  "The  Duma  is  dead;  long  live  the 
Duma."  The  audience  which  was  then  assem- 
bled in  the  Royal  gallery  of  the  British  House 
of  Lords  rose  as  one  man,  the  cheers  indicating 
that  the  speaker  had  touched  a  resx)onsive  chord. 
It  has  been  ijiipossible  to  include  in  three 
volumes  all  tliC  American  orations  which  might 
be  deemed  worthy  of  a  place,  but  important  pe- 
riods  have   ben  covered,   aiid   the   main   issues 


INTRODUCTION 


presented.  Hearing  is  given  to  Jefferson,  and  to 
his  political  opponent  Hamilton,  the  tsvo  repre- 
senting opposite  schools  of  political  thought.  The 
speeches  of  Webster  and  Hayne,  on  the  right  of 
a  state  to  secede,  are  given,  as  well  as  speeches 
from  Webster,  Clay  and  Calhoun  on  the  Com- 
promise of  1850.  The  slave  issue  is  defined 
by  its  ablest  representatives.  For  example,  the 
speech  of  Charles  Sumner  which  provoked  the 
assault  of  Preston  Brooks  and  the  speech  of 
Brooks  in  justification  of  himself  have  been  in- 
cluded. We  have  been  careful  to  reproduce  the 
speeches  made  in  the  first  of  the  series  of  joint 
debates  in  Illinois  between  Lincoln  and  Doug- 
las which  are  the  most  celebrated  political  de- 
bates in  history.  The  subject  of  the  debate 
was  one  which  stirred  the  nation  to  its  very 
depths,  and  the  participants  became  only  two 
years  later,  opposing  candidates  for  the  highest 
office  within  the  gift  of  the  people. 

As  orators  the  two  men  were  well  matched, 
altho  they  were  entirely  different  in  style 
and  method ;  they  spoke  to  immense  crowds,  and 


INTRODUCTION 


their  speeches  were  accepted  as  the  best  state- 
ments of  their  respective  sides.  Lincoln  had  an 
advantage,  in  that  he  could  oppose  the  principle 
of  slavery  without  threatening  interference  with 
it  where  it  already  existed  under  the  Constitu- 
tion; and  yet  so  strong  was  Douglas's  presenta- 
tion that  he  defeated  Lincoln  in  the  senatorial 
contest  then  pending,  only  to  be  defeated  by  him 
two  years  later  in  the  contest  for  the  Presidency. 
Every  student  of  oratory  should  secure  a  com- 
plete copy  of  the  debates  between  these  two 
giants.  The  debate  selected  for  this  collection 
being  the  first  (the  one  at  Ottawa),  gives  a  fair 
example  of  the  oratory  of  each.  The  first  inau- 
gural address  of  Lincoln  and  the  farewell  ad- 
dresses of  Jefferson  Davis  and  Robert  Toombs 
when  they  withdrew  from  the  Senate  reflect  the 
attitude  of  the  North  and  South  at  that  time. 

The  tariff  question  is  discussed  in  the  speeches 
of  Speaker  Crisp,  and  ex-Speaker  Reed,  each  a 
well-equipped  champion  of  his  party,  while  the 
money  question  finds  worthy  exponents  in  Sen- 
ator John  Sherman  and  Congressman  Richard 


INTRODUCTION 


P.  Bland,  who  for  nearly  twenty  years  were  the 
leaders  of  the  opposing  forces  on  this  subject. 

Among  the  American  orations  is  one  by 
the  great  historian,  Bancroft,  on  ' '  The  people  in 
Art,  Government  and  Religion."  So  far  as  my 
reading  goes,  this  is  the  most  splendid  tribute 
ever  paid  to  the  common  people  in  an  oration. 
It  is  full  of  sentences  that  could  be  quoted  as 
texts. 

Only  two  living  American  orators  have  been 
included — these  being  ex-President  Cleveland 
and  President  Roosevelt,  who  are  in  a  class  by 
themselves.  By  his  permission,  Mr.  Cleveland's 
first  inaugural  address  and  his  remarks  to  the 
students  of  Princeton  University  on  the  assas- 
sination of  President  McKinley  are  given.  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  is  represented  by  his  inaugural 
address  and  by  his  speech  at  the  Mothers'  Con- 
gress, the  selection  of  the  latter  having  been 
made  after  consultation  with  him. 

William  Jennings  Bryan. 


Paris,  August  13,  1906. 


CONTENTS 


Vol.  I— Greece  (432  B.C.— 324  B.C.) 

Page 

Preface  v 

Introduction '.         x 

Achilles — His  Reply  to  the  Envoys    (Legen- 
dary)            3 

Pericles — I  In    Favor    of    the    Peloponnesian 

War  (432  B.C) 9 

II  On  Those  Who  Died  in  the  War 

(430  B.C.) 16 

III  In  Defense  of  Himself  (430  B.C.)       27 
Cleon — On  the  Punishment  of  the  Mytileneans 

(427  B.C.) 34 

Alcibiades — I  In  Support  of  the  Athenian  Ex- 
pedition to  Sicily  (414  B.C.)       41 
II  To  the  Spartans   (413  B.C.)      .       47 
NiciAS — Against   the    Sicilian    Exj^edition    (414 

B.C.) 49 

Hermocrates — On  the  Union  of  Sicily  Against 

Invaders  (416  B.C.)     .      .      .       53 
Lysias — Against  Eratosthenes  (403  B.C.)     .      .       Gl 

XX -Y! 


CONTENTS 

Page 
Socrates— I  In  His  Own  Defense   (399  B.C.)       65 
II  On    Being    Declared    Guilty    (399 

B.C.) 77 

III  On    Being    Condemned    to    Deatli 

(399  B.C.) 82 

IsoCRATES — On  the  Union  of  Greece  to  Resist 

Persia  (380  B.C.) 89 

ISAEUS — In  the   Suit  Against   Dieaeogenes   and 

Leochares 101 

Demosthenes — I  The  Second  Oration  Against 

Philip  (344  B.C.)     ...     110 

II  On   the    State   of   the    Cher- 

sonesus  (342  B.C.)   ...     120 

III  On  the  Crown  (330  B.C.)     .     143 
Aeschines — Against    Ctesiphon;    or,    On    the 

Crown   (330  B.C.)      ....     ISO 
DiNARCHUS — Against  Demosthenes  (324  B.C.)   .     233 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Volume  I 

William  Jennings  Bryan 
The  Acropolis  at  Athens 
Achilles    . 
Pericles     . 
Alcibiades 

XlCIAS     . 

Lysias    . 

Socrates  . 
isocrates  . 
Demosthenes 

yEsCHINES     . 


FACING 
PAGE 


Frontispiece 


X 

4 
20 
44 

52 
62 
68 
96 
110 
186 


VOL.  I 
GREECE 

482  B.C.— yS4  B.C. 


ACHILLES 

HIS  REPLY  TO  THE  ENVOYS' 

(LEGENDARY) 

Date  of  Homer's  birth  and  death  unknown,  but  SOO  to  900  B.C.  the 
period  usually  accepted.  Of  the  seven  cities  contending  for  the 
honor  of  having  been  his  birthijlace,  Smyrna  possesses  the  best 
evidence.  Many  critics  contend  tliat  the  poems  bearing  Homer's 
fame  were  written  by  various  persons  in  different  ages,  but  it  is 
probable  that  at  least  the  Iliad,  or  a  considerable  part  of  it,  was 
the  product  of  a  single  mind. 

Heavex-sprung  son  of  Laertes,  Odysseus  of 
many  wiles,  in  openness  must  I  now  declare 
unto  you  my  sayin":,  even  as  I  am  minded  and 
as  the  fulfilment  thereof  shall  be,  that  ye  may 
not  sit  before  me  and  coax  this  way  and  that, 
l^'or  hateful  to  me,  even  as  the  gates  of  hell, 
is  he  that  hideth  one  thing  in  his  heart  and 
uttereth  another :  but  I  will  speak  what  me 
seemeth  best.  Xot  me,  I  ween,  nor  the  other 
Danaans,  shall  Agamemnon,  son  of  Atreus,  per- 
suade, seeing  we  were  to  hav(i  no  thank  for  bat- 
tling with  the  foeman  ever  without  respite.  lie 
that  abideth  at  home  hath  e(jual  share  with  him 
tliat  tightest  his  best,  and  in  like  honor  are  held 

'  Addressed  more  particularly  to  (Jdysseus,  one  of  the  envoys, 
tlian  to  Phoinix  and  Ajax,  the  others.  These  envoys  had  been  sent 
by  Agamemnon  to  plead  with  Achilles  for  his  return  to  action  in 
the  war  against  Tnry.  Tlie  Lang.  Leaf  and  Myers  translation. 
Printed  by  arrangement  wiili  Macmillati  A  Co.  of  London. 


THE      WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

both  the  coward  and  the  brave;  death  cometh 
alike  to  the  untoiling  and  to  him  that  hath 
toiled  long. 

Neither  have  I  any  profit  for  that  I  endured 
tribulation  of  soul,  ever  staking  my  life  in  fight. 
Even  as  a  hen  bringeth  her  unfledged  chickens 
each  morsel  as  she  winneth  it,  and  with  herself 
it  goeth  hard,  even  so  I  was  wont  to  watch  out 
many  a  sleepless  night  and  pass  through  many 
bloody  days  of  battle,  warring  with  folk  for  their 
women's  sake.  Twelve  cities  of  men  have  I  laid 
w^aste  from  shipboard,  and  from  land  eleven,  I 
do  you  to  wit,  throughout  deep-soiled  Troy-land ; 
out  of  all  these  took  I  many  goodly  treasures,  and 
would  bring  and  give  them  all  to  Agamemnon, 
son  of  Atreus,  and  he  staying  behind  amid  the 
fleet  ships  would  take  them  and  portion  out  some 
few  but  keep  the  most.  Now,  some  he  gave  to 
be  meeds  of  honor  to  the  princes  and  the  kings, 
and  theirs  are  left  untouched;  only  from  me  of 
all  the  Achaians  took  he  my  darling  lady  and 
keepeth  her — let  him  sleep  beside  her  and  take 
his  joy. 

But  why  must  the  Argives  make  w^ar  on  the 
Trojans?  Why  hath  Atreides  gathered  his  host 
and  led  them  hither?  Is  it  not  for  lovely-haired 
Helen's  sake?  Do  then  the  sons  of  Atreus  alone 
of  mortal  men  love  their  wives?  Surely,  what- 
soever man  is  good  and  sound  of  mind  and  lov- 
etli  his  own  and  cherisheth  her,  even  as  I,  too, 
loved  mine  with  all  my  heart,  tho  but  the  cap- 
tive of  my  spear.  But  now  that  he  hath  taken 
4 


ACIIIIJ.KS 


ACHILLES 


my  meed  of  honor  from  mine  arms  and  liath 
deceived  me,  let  him  not  tempt  me  that  know 
him  full  well;  he  shall  not  prevail. 

Xay,  Odysseus,  let  him  take  counsel  with  thee 
and  all  the  princes  to  ward  from  the  ships  the 
consuming  fire.  Verily  without  mine  aid  he 
hath  wrought  many  things,  and  built  a  wall  and 
dug  a  foss  about  it  wide  and  deep,  and  set  a 
palisade  therein;  yet  even  so  can  he  not  stay 
murderous  Hector's  might.  But  so  long  as  I 
was  fighting  amid  the  Achaians,  Hector  had  no 
mind  to  array  his  battle  far  from  the  wall,  but 
scarce  came  unto  the  Skaian  gates  and  to  the 
oak  tree ;  there  once  he  awaited  me  alone  and 
scarce  escaped  my  onset.  But  now,  seeing  I 
have  no  mind  to  fight  with  noble  Hector,  I  will 
to-morrow  do  sacrifice  to  Zeus  and  all  the  gods, 
and  store  well  my  ships  when  I  have  launched 
them  on  the  salt  seas.  Then  shalt  thou  see,  if 
thou  wilt  and  hast  any  care  therefor,  my  ships 
sailing  at  break  of  day  over  Hellespont,  the 
fishes'  home,  and  my  men  right  eager  at  the  oar; 
and  if  the  great  Shaker  of  the  earth  grant  me 
good  journey,  on  the  third  day  should  I  reach 
deep-soiled  Phthia.  There  are  my  great  posses- 
sions that  I  left  Avhcn  I  came  hither  to  my  hurt; 
and  yet  more  gold  and  ruddy  bronze  shall  I 
bring  fi'om  hence,  and  fair-girdled  women  and 
gray  ii-on,  all  at  least  that  were  mine  by  lot; 
only  my  meed  of  honor  hath  he  that  gave  it  me 
taken  back  in  his  despitefulness,  even  Lord  Aga- 
memnon, son  of  Atreus. 


THE      WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

To  him  declare  ye  everything  even  as  I  charge 
you,  openly,  that  all  the  Achaians  likewise  may 
have  indignation,  if  happily  he  hopeth  to  begni!.' 
yet  some  otb.er  Danaan,  for  that  he  is  over 
clothed  in  shanielessness.  Verily  not  in  my  face 
would  he  dare  to  look,  tho  he  have  the  front  of 
a  dog.  Neither  will  I  devise  counsel  with  him 
nor  any  enterprise,  for  utterly  he  hath  deceived 
me  and  done  wickedly;  but  never  again  shall 
he  beg-uile  me  with  fair  speech.  Let  this  suffice 
him.  Let  him  begone  in  peace;  Zeus,  the  lord 
of  counsel,  hath  taken  away  his  wits.  Hateful 
to  me  are  his  gifts,  and  I  hold  him  at  a  straw's 
worth.  Xot  even  if  he  gave  me  ten  times,  yea 
twenty,  all  that  now  is  his,  and  all  that  may 
come  to  him  otherwhence,  even  all  the  revenue 
of  Orchomenos  or  Egyptian  Thebes  where  the 
treasure-houses  ai'e  stored  fullest — Thebes  of  the 
hundred  gates,  whence  sally  forth  two  hundred 
warriors  through  each  with  horses  and  chariots 
— nay,  nor  gifts  in  number  as  sand  or  dust:  not 
even  so  shall  Agjirneninon  persuade  my  soul  till 
he  have  paid  me  back  at  the  bitter  despite. 

And  the  daughter  of  Agamemnon,  son  of 
Atreus,  will  I  not  wed,  not  were  she  rival  of 
golden  Aphrodite  for  fairness  and  for  handi- 
work matched  bright-eyed  Athene— -not  even 
then  will  I  wt'd  her;  let  him  choose  him  of  the 
Achaians  another  that  is  his  x>eer  and  is  more 
royal  than  I.  For  if  the  gods  indeed  ])reserve 
me  and  I  come  unto  my  home,  then  will  P(^]eus 
himself  marrv  me  a  wife.     ]^,Iauv  Achaiau  maid- 


ACHILLES 


ens  are  there  throughout  Hellas  and  Phthia, 
daughters  of  princes  that  rule  their  cities ;  whom- 
soever of  these  I  wish  will  I  make  my  dear  lady. 
Very  often  was  my  high  soul  moved  to  take  me 
there  a  wedded  wife,  a  helpmeet  for  me,  and 
have  joy  of  the  possessions  that  the  old  man  Pe- 
leus  possesseth. 

For  not  of  like  worth  with  life  hold  I  even 
all  the  wealth  that  men  say  was  possessed  of  the 
well-peopled  city  of  Ilios  in  days  of  peace  gone 
by,  before  the  sons  of  the  Achaians  came ;  neither 
all  the  treasure  that  the  stone  threshold  of  the 
archer  Phoebus  Apollo  encompasseth  in  rocky 
Pytho.  For  kine  and  goodly  flocks  are  to  be  had 
for  the  harrying,  and  tripods  and  chestnut  horses 
for  the  purchasing;  but  to  bring  back  man's  life 
neither  harrying  nor  earning  avail eth  when  once 
it  hath  passed  the  barrier  of  his  lips.  For  thus 
my  goddess  mother  telleth  me,  Thetis,  the  silver- 
footed,  that  twain  fates  are  bearing  me  to  the 
issue  of  death.  If  I  abide  here  and  besiege  the 
Trojan's  city,  then  my  returning  home  is  taken 
from  me,  but  my  fame  shall  be  imperishable; 
but  if  I  go  home  to  my  dear  native  land,  my 
high  fame  is  taken  from  me,  but  my  life  shall 
endure  long  while,  neither  shall  the  issue  of 
death  soon  reach  me. 

Moreover,  I  would  counsel  you  all  to  set  sail 
homeward,  seeing  ye  shall  never  reach  your  goal 
of  steep  Ilios;  of  a  surety,  far-soeing  Zeus  hold- 
eth  his  hand  over  her  and  her  folk  are  of  good 
courage.      So  go  your  way  and  tell  my  answer 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

to  the  princes  of  the  Achaians,  even  as  is  the 
office  of  elders,  that  they  may  devise  in  their 
hearts  some  other  better  counsel  such  as  shall 
save  them  their  ships  and  the  host  of  the  Achai- 
aiis  amid  the  hollow  ships;  since  this  counsel 
availeth  them  naught  that  they  have  now  de- 
vised by  reason  of  ray  fierce  wrath.  But  let 
I^hoenix  now  abide  with  us  and  lay  him  to  rest, 
that  he  may  follow  with  me  on  my  ships  to  our 
dear  native  land  to-morrow,  if  he  will ;  for  I 
will  not  take  him  perforce. 


PERICLES 


IN  FAVOR  OF  THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR  ^ 

(4;«  B.C.) 

Born  about  500  B.C.,  died  in  429:  entered  public  life  about  4C9  as 

leader  of  the  Democratic  party;  principal  minister  of  the  Athenian 

State  after  44^1 ;  commanded  in  the  first  Peloponnesian  War. 

I  ALWAYS  adhere  to  the  same  opinion,  Athe- 
nians, that  we  should  make  no  concessions  to 
the  Lacedaemonians;  altho  I  know  that  men  are 
not  persuaded  to  go  to  war,  and  act  when  en- 
gaged in  it,  with  the  same  temper;  but  that, 
according  to  results,  they  also  change  their  views. 
Still  I  see  that  the  same  advice,  or  nearly  the 
same,  must  be  given  by  me  now  as  before;  and 
I  claim  from  those  of  you  who  are  being  per- 
suaded to  war,  that  you  will  support  the  com- 
mon resolutions,  should  we  ever  meet  with  any 
reverse;  or  not,  on  the  other  hand,  to  lay  any 

'  Delivered  before  the  Assembly  at  Athens  during  a  discussion  of 
the  Lacedemonian  demands.  Reported  by  Thucydides.  Trans- 
lated by  Henry  Dale. 

As  to  the  authenticity  of  the  speeches  here  taken  from  Thucyd- 
ides (those  of  Pericles,  Cleon,  Nicias,  and  Alcibiades),  the  state- 
ment of  Thucydides  on  the  subject  must  be  kept  in  mind:  "  I  havo 
found  it  difficult  to  retain  a  memory  of  the  precise  words  that  I  had 
heard  spoken,  and  so  it  was  with  those  who  brought  me  report.  I 
have  made  the  persons  say  what  it  seemed  to  me  most  opportime 

9 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

claim  to  intelligence,  if  successful.  For  it  fre- 
quently happens  that  the  results  of  measures 
proceed  no  k'ss  incomprehcnsilily  than  the  coun- 
sels of  man;  and  therefore  we  are  accustomed  to 
regard  fortune  as  the  author  of  all  things  that 
turn  out  contrary  to  our  expectation. 

Now  the  Lacedaemonians  were  both  evidently 
plotting  against  us  before,  and  now  especially 
are  doing  so.  For  whereas  it  is  expressed  in  the 
treaty,  that  we  should  give  and  accept  judicial 
decisions  of  our  differences,  and  each  side  [in 
the  mean  time]  keep  what  we  have;  they  have 
neither  themselves  hitherto  asked  for  such  a  de- 
cision, nor  do  they  accept  it  when  we  offer  it; 
but  wish  our  complaints  to  be  settled  by  war 
ratlx'r  tliaii  by  words;  and  are  now  come  dicta- 
ting, and  no  longer  expostulating.  For  they  com- 
mand us  to  raise  the  siege  of  Potidiea,  and  to 
leave  ^gina  independent,  and  to  rescind  the 
decree  respecting  the  ]Megareans ;  while  these  last 
envoys  that  have  come  charge  us  also  to  leave 
the  Greeks  independent.  But  let  none  of  you 
think  we  should  be  going  to  war  for  a  trifle,  if 
we  did  not  rescind  the  decree  respecting  the 
]\Iegareans,  which  they  principally  put  forward, 

for  them  to  say,  in  view  of  the  situation;  at  tlie  same  time  I  hava 
adhered  as  closely  as  possible  to  the  jrenera!  sense  of  what  was  act- 
ually said."  R.  C.  Jebb,  discussing  this  matter,  says:  '■  We  may  be 
sure  that  wherever  Thucydides  liad  any  authentic  clue  tuthe  actual 
tenor  of  the  speech,  he  preferred  to  follow  that  clue  rather  than  to 
draw  on  his  own  invention."  .Tebb  adds,  that  "  to  these  speeches  is 
due,  in  no  small  measui-e,  the  imperishable  intellectual  interest  of 
the  history." 

10 


PERICLES 


[saying,]  that  if  it  were  rescinded,  the  war  would 
not  take  place :  nor  leave  in  your  minds  any  room 
for  self-accusation  hereafter,  as  tho  you  had  gone 
to  war  for  a  trivial  thing.  For  this  trifle  involves 
the  whole  confirmation,  as  well  as  trial,  of  your 
purpose.  If  you  yield  to  these  demands,  you 
will  soon  also  be  ordered  to  do  something  greater, 
as  having  in  this  instance  obeyed  through  fear : 
but  by  resolutely  refusing  you  would  prove 
clearly  to  them  that  they  must  treat  with  you 
more  on  an  equal  footing. 

Henceforth  then  make  up  your  minds,  either 
to  submit  before  you  are  hurt,  or,  if  we  go  to 
vvar,  as  I  think  is  better,  on  important  or  trivial 
grounds  alike  to  m^ake  no  concession,  nor  to  keep 
with  fear  what  we  have  now  acquired;  for  both 
the  greatest  and  the  least  demand  from  equals, 
imperiously  urged  on  their  neighbors  previous 
to  a  judicial  decision,  amounts  to  the  same  de- 
gree of  subjugation. 

Xow  with  regard  to  the  war,  and  the  means 
possessed  by  both  parties,  that  we  shall  not  be 
the  weaker  side,  be  convinced  by  hearing  the 
particulars.  The  Peloponnesians  are  men  who 
cultivate  their  land  themselves;  and  they  have 
no  money  either  in  private  or  public  funds.  Then 
they  are  inexperienced  in  long  and  transmarine 
wars,  as  they  only  wage  them  with  each  other 
for  a  short  time,  owing  to  their  poverty.  And 
men  of  this  description  can  neither  man  fleets 
Tior  often  send  out  land  armaments;  being  at 
the  same  time  absent  from  their  private  busi- 
11 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

ness,  and  spending  from  their  own  resources; 
and,  moreover,  being  also  shut  out  from  the  sea : 
but  it  is  superabundant  revenues  that  support 
wars,  rather  than  compulsory  contributions.  And 
men  who  till  the  land  themselves  are  more  ready 
to  wage  war  with  their  persons  than  with  their 
money :  feeling  confident,  with  regard  to  the 
former,  that  they  will  escape  from  dangers;  but 
not  being  sure,  with  regard  to  the  latter,  that 
they  will  not  spend  it  before  they  have  done ; 
especially  should  the  war  be  prolonged  beyond 
their  expectations,  as  [in  this  case]  it  probably 
may.  For  in  one  hattle  the  Peloponnesians  and 
their  allies  might  cope  with  all  the  Greeks  to- 
gether ;  but  they  could  not  carry  on  a  war  against 
resources  of  a  different  description  to  their  own ; 
since  they  have  no  one  board  of  council,  so  as  to 
execute  any  measure  with  vigor ;  and  all  having 
equal  votes,  and  not  being  of  the  same  races, 
each  forwards  his  own  interest;  for  which  rea- 
sons nothing  generally  is  brought  to  completion. 
Most  of  all  will  they  be  impeded  by  scarcity 
of  money,  while,  through  their  slowness  in  pro- 
viding it,  they  continue  to  delay  their  operations; 
whereas  the  opportunities  of  war  wait  for  no 
one.  Neither,  again,  is  their  raising  works  against 
us  worth  fearing,  or  their  fleet.  With  regard  to 
the  former,  it  were  difficult  even  in  time  of  peace 
to  set  up  a  rival  city;  much  more  in  a  hostile 
country,  and  when  we  should  have  raised  works 
no  less  against  them:  and  if  they  build  [only]  a 
fort,  they  might  perhaps  hurt  some  part  of  our 
12 


PERICLES 


land  by  incursions  and  desertions;  it  will  not, 
however,  be  possible  for  them  to  prevent  our 
sailing  to  their  country  and  raisin*]^  forts,  and 
retaliating  with  our  ships,  in  which  we  are  so 
strong.  For  we  have  more  advantage  for  land- 
service  from  our  naval  skill,  than  Ih.^y  have  for 
naval  matters  from  their  skill  by  land. 

But  to  become  skilful  at  sea  wi!'  not  easily  be 
acquired  by  them.  For  not  even  liave  you,  tho 
practising  from  the  very  time  of  the  iNIedian  War, 
brought  it  to  perfection  as  yet;  how  then  shall 
men  who  are  agricnlturists  and  not  mariners, 
and,  moreover,  will  not  even  be  permitted  to 
practise,  from  being  always  observed  by  us  with 
many  ships,  achieve  any  thing  worth  speaking 
of?  Against  a  few  ships  observing  them  they 
might  run  the  risk,  encouraging  their  ignorance 
by  their  numbers;  but  when  kept  in  check  by 
many,  they  will  remain  quiet;  and  through  not 
practising  will  be  the  less  skilful,  and  therefore 
the  more  afraid.  For  naval  service  is  a  matter 
of  art,  like  anything  else;  and  does  not  admit  of 
being  practised  just  w^hen  it  may  happen,  as  a 
by  work;  but  rather  does  not  even  allow  of  any- 
thing else  being  a  bywork  to  it. 

Even  if  they  should  take  some  of  the  funds 
at  Olympia  or  Delphi,  and  endeavor,  by  higher 
pay,  to  rob  us  of  our  foreign  sailors,  that  would 
lie  alarming,  if  we  were  not  a  match  for  them, 
by  going  on  l)oard  ourselves  and  our  resident 
aliens;  but  now  this  is  the  case;  and,  what  is 
best  of  all,  we  have  native  steersmen,  and  crews 
in 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

at  large,  more  numerous  and  better  than  all  the 
rest  of  Greece.  And  with  the  danger  before  them, 
none  of  the  foreigners  would  consent  to  fly  his 
countiy,  and  at  the  same  time  with  less  hope  of 
success  to  join  them  in  the  struggle,  for  the  sake 
of  a  few  days'  higher  pay. 

The  circumstances  of  the  Peloponnesians  then 
seem,  to  me  at  least,  to  be  of  such  or  nearly  such 
a  character ;  while  ours  seem  both  to  be  free  from 
the  faults  I  have  found  in  theirs,  and  to  have 
other  great  advantages  in  more  than  an  equal 
degree.  Again,  should  they  come  by  land  against 
our  country,  we  will  sail  against  theirs;  and  the 
loss  will  be  greater  for  even  a  part  of  the  Pelo- 
ponnese  to  be  ravaged,  than  for  the  whole  of 
Attica.  For  ilicy  will  not  be  able  to  obtain  any 
land  in  its  stead  without  fighting  for  it;  while 
we  have  abundance,  both  in  islands  and  on  the 
mainland.  ]Moreovcr,  consider  it  [in  this  point 
of  view]  :  if  we  had  been  islanders,  who  would 
have  been  more  impregnable?  And  we  ought, 
as  it  is,  with  views  as  near  as  possible  to  those 
of  islanders,  to  give  up  all  thought  of  our  land 
and  houses,  and  keep  watch  over  the  sea  and 
the  city ;  and  not,  through  being  enraged  on 
their  account,  to  come  to  an  engagement  with 
the  Peloponnesians,  who  are  much  more  numer- 
ous ;  (for  if  we  defeat  them,  we  shall  have  to  light 
again  with  no  fewer  of  them;  and  if  we  meet 
with  a  reverse,  our  allies  are  lost  also;  for  they 
will  not  remain  quiet  if  we  are  not  able  to  lead 
our  forces  against  them-.)   and  we  should  make 

14 


PERICLES 


lamentation,  not  for  the  houses  and  land,  but  for 
the  lives  [that  are  lost]  ;  for  it  is  not  these  things 
that  gain  men,  but  men  that  gain  these  things. 
And  if  I  thought  that  I  should  persuade  you,  I 
would  bid  you  go  out  yourselves  and  ravage 
them,  and  show  the  Peloponnesians  that  you  will 
not  submit  to  them  for  these  things,  at  any  rate. 
I  have  also  many  other  grounds  for  hoping 
that  we  shall  conquer,  if  you  will  avoid  gaining 
additional  dominion  at  the  time  of  your  being 
engaged  in  the  war,  and  bringing  on  yourselves 
dangers  of  your  own  choosing;  for  I  am  more 
afraid  of  our  own  mistakes  than  of  the  enemy's 
plans.  But  those  points  shall  be  explained  in 
another  speech  at  the  time  of  the  events.  At 
the  present  time  let  us  send  these  men  away  with 
this  answer :  that  with  regard  to  the  i\Iegareans, 
we  will  also  allow  them  to  use  our  ports  and 
market,  if  the  Lacedai'monians  also  abstain  from 
expelling  foreigners,  whether  ourselves  or  our 
allies  (for  it  forbids  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other  in  the  treaty)  :  with  regard  to  the  states, 
that  we  will  leave  them  independent,  if  we  also 
held  them  as  independent  when  we  made  the 
treaty;  and  when  tltey  too  restore  to  the  states 
a  permission  to  be  independent  suita])ly  to  the 
interests,  not  of  the  Lacedaunonians  themselves, 
but  of  the  several  states,  as  they  wish :  that  W(! 
are  willing  to  submit  to  judicial  decision,  accord- 
ing to  the  treaty :  and  that  we  will  not  commence 
hostilities,  but  will  defend  ourselves  against  those 
who  do.     For  this  is  both  a  ri'dit  answer  and  a 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

becoming  one  for  the  state  to  give. 

But  you  should  know  that  go  to  war  we  must ; 
and  if  we  accept  it  willingly  rather  than  not, 
we  shall  find  the  enemy  less  disposed  to  press 
us  hard ;  and,  moreover,  that  it  is  from  the  great- 
est hazards  that  the  greatest  honors  also  are 
gained,  both  by  state  and  by  individual.  Our 
fathers,  at  any  rate,  by  withstanding  the  jMedes 
— tho  they  did  not  begin  with  such  resources  [as 
we  have],  but  had  even  abandoned  what  they 
had — and  by  counsel,  more  than  by  fortune,  and 
by  daring,  more  than  by  strength,  beat  off  the 
barbarian,  and  advanced  those  resources  to  their 
present  height.  And  we  must  not  fall  short  of 
them ;  but  must  repel  our  enemies  in  every  way, 
and  endeavor  to  bequeath  our  power  to  our  pos- 
terity no  less  [than  we  received  it]. 


II 

ON  THOSE  WHO  DIED  IN  THE  WAR* 

(4;X)  B.C.) 

The  greater  part  of  those  who  ere  now  have 
spoken  in  this  place,  have  been  accustomed  to 
praise  the  man  who  introduced  this  oration  into 
the  law;   considering  it  a   right   thing   that  it 

'  Delivered  "in  the  fairest  suburb"  of  Athens  over  the  bodies  of 
those  who  had  fallen  in  the  first  Peloponnesian  Waf-.  Reported  bj 
Thucydides.    Translated  by  Plenry  Dale.    Slightly  abridged. 

IG 


PERICLES 


should  be  delivered  over  those  who  are  buried 
after  falling  in  battle.  To  me,  however,  it  would 
have  appeared  sufficient,  that  when  men  had 
shown  themselves  brave  by  deeds,  their  honors 
also  should  be  displayed  by  deeds^as  you  now 
see  in  the  case  of  this  burial,  prepared  at  the 
public  expense — and  not  that  the  virtues  of 
many  should  be  periled  in  one  individual  for 
credit  to  be  given  him  according  as  he  expresses 
himself  well  or  ill.  For  it  is  difficult  to  speak 
with  propriety  on  a  subject  on  which  even  the 
impression  of  one's  truthfulness  is  with  diffi- 
culty established. 

Now  with  regard  to  our  military  achievements, 
by  which  each  possession  was  gained,  whether 
in  any  case  it  were  ourselves,  or  our  fathers,  that 
repelled  with  spirit  hostilities  brought  against 
us  by  barbarian  or  Greek;  as  I  do  not  wish  to 
enlarge  on  the  subject  before  you  who  are  well 
acquainted  with  it,  I  will  j)ass  them  over.  But 
by  what  a  mode  of  life  we  attained  to  our  power, 
and  by  what  form  of  government  and  owing  to 
what  habits  it  became  so  great,  I  will  explain 
these  points  first,  and  then  proceed  to  the  eulogy 
of  these  men;  as  I  consider  that  on  the  present 
occasion  they  will  not  be  inapjjropriately  men- 
tioned, and  that  it  is  profitable  for  the  whole  as- 
sembly, both  citizens  and  strangers,  to  listen  to 
them. 

For  we  enjoy  a  form  of  government  which 
does  not  copy  the  laws  of  our  neighbors;  but  wo 
are  ourselves  rather  a  pattern  to  others  than 
17 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

imitators  of  them.  In  name,  from  its  not  being 
administered  for  the  benefit  of  the  few,  but  of 
the  many,  it  is  called  a  democracy ;  but  with  re- 
gard to  its  laws,  all  enjoy  equality,  as  concerns 
their  private  differences;  while  with  regard  to 
public  rank,  according  as  each  man  has  reputa- 
tion for  anything,  he  is  preferred  for  public 
honors,  not  so  much  from  consideration  of  party, 
as  of  merit;  nor,  again,  on  the  ground  of  pov- 
erty, while  he  is  able  to  do  the  state  any  good 
service,  is  he  prevented  by  the  obscurity  of  his 
position.  We  are  liberal  then  in  our  public  ad- 
ministration;  and  with  regard  to  mutual  jeal- 
ousy of  our  daily  pursuits,  we  are  not  angr}' 
with  our  neigh l)or,  if  he  does  anything  to  please 
himself;  nor  wear  on  our  countenance  offensive 
looks,  which  tho  harmless,  are  yet  unpleasant. 
AYhile,  however,  in  private  matters  we  live  to- 
gether agreeably,  in  public  matters,  under  the 
influence  of  fear,  we  most  carefully  abstain  from 
ti-ansgression,  through  our  obedience  to  those 
who  are  from  time  to  time  in  office,  and  to  the 
laws;  especially  such  of  them  as  are  enacted  for 
the  benefit  of  the  injured,  and  such  as,  tho  un- 
written, bring  acknowledged  disgrace  [on  thos(^ 
who  break  them  ] . 

IMoreover,  we  have  provided  for  our  spirits 
the  most  numerous  recreations  from  laboi's,  l/V 
celebrating  games  and  sacrifices  through  thr 
v.hole  year,  and  by  maintaining  elegant  private 
establishments,  of  which  the  daily  gratification 
drives  away  sadness.  Owing  to  the  greatness  too 
18 


PERICLES 


of  our  city,  everythinj2:  from  every  land  is  im- 
ported into  it;  and  it  is  our  lot  to  reap  with  no 
■  nore  peculiar  enjoyment  the  good  things  which 
are  produced  here,  than  those  of  the  rest  of  the 
world  likewise. 

In  the  studies  of  war  also  we  differ  from  our 
enemies  in  the  following  respects:  AVe  throw 
our  city  open  to  all,  and  never,  by  the  expulsion 
of  strangers,  exclude  anyone  from  either  learn- 
ing or  observing  things,  by  seeing  which  uncon- 
cealed any  of  our  enenncs  might  gain  an  advan- 
tage; for  we  trust  not  so  much  to  preparations 
and  stratagems,  as  to  our  ovrn  valor  for  daring 
deeds.  Again,  as  to  our  modes  of  education,  tlieij 
aim  at  the  acquisition  of  a  manly  character,  by 
laborious  training  from  their  very  youth ;  while 
ICC,  tho  living  at  our  ease,  no  less  boldly  advance 
to  meet  equal  dangers.  As  a  proof  of  this,  the 
Lacedaemonians  never  march  against  our  coun- 
try singly,  but  with  all  [their  confederates]  to- 
gether: while  we,  generally  speaking,  have  no 
difficulty  in  conquering  in  battle  upon  hostile 
ground  those  who  are  standing  up  in  defense  of 
tlieir  own.  And  no  enemy  ever  yet  encountei'ed 
our  whole  united  force,  thi-ough  our  attending 
at  the  same  time  to  our  navy,  and  sending  our 
troops  by  land  on  so  many  different  services: 
but  wherever  they  have  engaged  with  any  part 
of  it.  if  they  conrpier  only  some  of  us,  they  boiist 
that  we  were  all  routed  by  them;  and  if  th(\v 
are  eonfiuered,  they  say  it  was  by  all  that  th-y 
were  beaten.    And  yet  if  with  careless  ease  rather 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

than  with  laborious  practise,  and  with  a  courage 
which  is  the  result  not  so  much  of  laws  as  of 
natural  disposition,  we  are  willing  to  face  dan- 
ger, we  have  the  advantage  of  not  suffering  be- 
forehand from  coming  troubles,  and  of  proving 
ourselves,  when  we  are  involved  in  them,  no  less 
bold  than  those  who  are  always  toiling;  so  that 
our  country  is  worthy  of  admiration  in  these 
respects,  and  in  others  besides. 

For  we  study  taste  with  economy,  and  philoso- 
phy without  effeminacy;  and  employ  wealth 
rather  for  opportunity  of  action  than  for  boast- 
fulness  of  talking;  while  poverty  is  nothing  dis- 
graceful for  a  man  to  confess,  but  not  to  escape 
it  by  exertion  is  more  disgraceful.  Again,  the 
same  men  can  attend  at  the  same  time  to  domes- 
tic as  well  as  to  public  affairs;  and  others,  who 
are  engaged  with  business,  can  still  form  a  suffi- 
cient judgment  on  political  questions.  For  we 
are  the  only  people  that  consider  the  man  who 
takes  no  part  in  these  things,  not  as  unofficious, 
but  as  useless;  and  we  ourselves  judge  rightly 
of  measures,  at  any  rate,  if  we  do  not  originate 
them;  while  we  do  not  regard  words  as  any  hin- 
drance to  deeds,  but  rather  [consider  it  a  hin- 
drance] not  to  have  been  previously  instructed 
by  word,  before  undertaking  in  deed  what  we 
have  to  do.  For  we  have  this  characteristic  also 
in  a  remarkable  degree,  that  we  are  at  the  same 
time  most  daring  and  most  calculating  in  what 
we  take  in  hand,  whereas  to  other  men  it  is  igno- 

20 


M.l^ICl.l.S 


PERICLES 


ranee  that  brings  daring,  while  calculation  brings 
fear. 

In  short,  I  say  that  both  the  whole  city  is  a 
school  for  Greece,  and  that,  in  my  opinion,  the 
same  individual  wonld  among  us  provide  liim- 
self  qualified  for  the  most  varied  kinds  of  ac- 
tion, and  with  the  most  graceful  versatility.  And 
that  this  is  not  mere  vaunting  language  for  the 
occasion,  so  much  as  actual  truth,  the  very  power 
of  the  state,  which  we  have  won  by  such  habits, 
affords  a  proof.  For  it  is  the  only  country  at 
the  present  time  that,  when  brought  to  the  test, 
proves  superior  to  its  fame ;  and  the  only  one 
that  neither  gives  to  the  enemy  who  has  attacked 
us  any  cause  for  indignation  at  being  worsted 
by  such  opponents,  nor  to  him  who  is  subject  to 
us  room  for  finding  fault,  as  not  being  ruled  by 
men  who  are  worthy  of  empire.  But  we  shall 
be  admired  both  by  present  and  future  genera- 
tions as  having  exhibited  our  power  with  great 
proofs,  and  by  no  means  without  evidence ;  and 
as  having  no  further  need,  either  of  Homer  to 
praise  us  or  anj'one  else  who  might  charm  for 
the  moment  by  his  verses,  while  the  truth  of  the 
fafts  would  mar  the  idea  formed  of  them;  but 
as  having  compelled  every  sea  and  land  to  be- 
come accessible  to  our  daring,  and  everywhere 
estaV)lished  everlasting  records,  whether  of  evil 
or  (jf  good.  It  was  for  such  a  country  then  that 
tlu'se  men,  nobly  resolving  not  to  have  it  taken 
from  them,  fell  fighting;  and  every  one  of  their 
21 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

survivors  may  well  be  willing  to  suffer  in  its 
behalf. 

For  this  reason,  indeed,  it  is  that  I  have  en- 
larged on  the  characteristics  of  the  state;  both 
to  prove  that  the  struggle  is  not  for  the  same 
object  in  our  ease  as  in  that  of  men  who  have 
none  of  these  advantages  in  an  equal  degree;  and 
at  the  same  time  clearly  to  establish  by  proofs 
[the  truth  of]  the  eulogy  of  those  men  over  whom 
I  am  now  speaking.  And  now  the  chief  points 
of  it  have  been  mentioned ;  for  with  regard  to 
the  things  for  which  I  have  commended  the  city, 
it  was  the  virtues  of  these  men,  such  as  these, 
that  adorned  her  with  them ;  and  few  of  the 
Greeks  are  there  whose  fame,  like  these  men's, 
wou.ld  appear  but  the  just  counterpoise  of  their 
deeds. 

Again,  the  closing  scene  of  these  men  appears 
to  me  to  supply  an  illustration  of  human  worth, 
whether  as  affording  us  the  first  information  re- 
specting it,  or  its  final  confirmation.  For  even 
in  the  case  of  men  who  have  been  in  other  re- 
spects of  an  inferior  character,  it  is  but  fair  for 
them  to  hold  forth  as  a  screen  their  military 
courage  in  their  country's  behalf;  for,  having 
wi{>ed  out  their  evil  by  their  good,  they  did 
more  service  collectively,  than  harm  by  their 
individual  offenses. 

But  of  these  men  there  was  none  that  either 
was  made  a  coward  by  his  wealth,  from  prefer- 
ring th'  eontinucd  cn.'oyinent  of  it:  or  shrank 
from    "iiiger  through  a  hope  suggested  by  pov- 


PERICLES 

erty,  namely,  that  he  ir.is'ht  3'et  escape  it,  and 
grow  rich ;  but  conceiving  that  vengeance  on 
their  foes  was  more  to  be  desired  than  these  ol)- 
jects,  and  at  the  same  time  regarding  this  as 
the  most  glorious  of  hazards,  they  wished  by 
risking  it  to  be  avenged  on  their  enemies,  and 
so  to  aim  at  procuring  those  advantages;  com- 
mitting to  hope  the  uncertainty  of  success,  but 
resolving  to  trust  to  action,  with  regard  to  what 
was  visibk^  to  themselves;  and  in  that  action, 
being  minded  rather  to  resist  and  die,  than  by 
surreiulering  to  escape,  they  fled  from  the  shame 
of  [a  discreditable]  report,  while  they  endured 
the  brunt  of  the  battle  with  their  bodies;  and 
after  the  shortest  crisis,  when  at  the  very  height 
of  their  fortune,  were  taken  away  from  their 
glory  rather  than  their  fear. 

Such  did  these  men  prove  themselves,  as  be- 
came the  character  of  their  country.  For  you 
that  remain,  you  must  pray  that  you  may  have 
a  more  successful  resolution,  but  must  determine 
not  to  have  one  less  bold  against  your  enemies; 
not  in  word  alone  considering  the  benefit  [of  such 
a  spirit],  (on  which  one  might  descant  to  you 
at  great  length — tho  you  know  it  yourselves  quite 
as  vrell— telling  you  hov»^  many  advantages  are 
contained  in  repelling  your  foes)  l)ut  rather 
day  by  day  beholding  the  ])ower  of  the  city  as 
it  appears  in  fact,  and  growing  enamored  of  it, 
and  reflecting,  when  you  think  it  great  that  it 
was  by  being  bold,  and  knowinir  their  duty,  and 
being  alive  to  shame  in  action,  th;il  men  ac(piired 
23 


THE      WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

these  things;  and  because,  if  they  ever  failed  in 
their  attempt  at  anything,  they  did  not  on  that 
account  think  it  right  to  deprive  their  country 
also  of  their  valor,  but  conferred  upon  her  a 
most  glorious  joint-offering. 

For  while  collectively  they  gave  her  their  lives, 
individually  they  received  that  renown  which 
never  grows  old,  and  the  most  distinguished  tomb 
they  could  have ;  not  so  much  that  in  which  they 
are  laid,  as  that  in  which  their  glory  is  left  be- 
hind them,  to  be  everlastingly  recorded  on  every 
occasion  for  doing  so,  either  by  word  or  deed, 
that  may  from  time  to  time  present  itself.  For 
of  illustrious  men  the  whole  earth  is  the  sepul- 
clier;  and  not  only  does  the  inscription  upon 
columns  in  their  own  land  point  it  out,  but  in 
that  also  which  is  not  their  own  there  dwells  with 
every  one  an  unwritten  memorial  of  the  heart, 
rather  than  of  a  material  monument. 

Vying  then  with  these  men  in  your  turn,  and 
deeming  happiness  to  consist  in  freedom,  and 
freedom  in  valor,  do  not  think  lightly  of  the 
hazards  of  war.  For  it  is  not  the  unfortunate, 
[and  those]  who  have  no  hope  of  any  good,  that 
would  with  most  reason  be  unsparing  of  their 
lives;  but  those  who,  while  they  live,  still  incur 
the  risk  of  a  change  to  the  opposite  condition, 
and  to  whom  the  difference  would  be  the  great- 
est, should  they  meet  with  any  reverse.  For 
more  grievous,  to  a  man  of  high  spirit  at  least, 
is  the  misery  which  accompanies  cowardice,  than 
the  unfelt  death  which  comes  upon  him  at  once, 

24 


PERICLES 


in  the  time  of  his  strength  and  of  his  hope  for 
the  common  welfare. 

Wherefore  to  tlic  parents  of  the  dead — as 
many  of  thein  as  are  here  among  you — I  will 
not  offer  condolence,  so  much  as  consolation.  For 
they  know  that  they  have  been  brought  up  sub- 
ject to  manifold  misfortunes;  but  that  happy  is 
their  lot  who  have  gained  the  most  glorious — 
death,  as  these  have, — sorrow,  as  you  have ;  and 
to  whom  life  has  been  so  exactly  measured,  that 
they  were  both  happy  in  it,  and  died  in  [that 
happiness].  DiflScult,  indeed,  I  know  it  is  to 
persuade  you  of  this,  with  regard  to  those  of 
whom  you  will  often  be  reminded  by  the  good 
fortune  of  others,  in  which  you  yourselves  also 
once  rejoiced ;  and  sorrow  is  felt,  not  for  the 
blessings  of  which  one  is  bereft  without  full  ex- 
perience of  them,  but  of  that  which  one  loses 
after  becoming  accustomed  to  it. 

But  you  must  bear  up  in  the  hope  of  other 
children,  those  of  you  whose  age  yet  allows  you 
to  have  them.  For  to  yourselves  individually 
those  who  are  subse([nently  born  will  be  a  rea- 
son for  your  forgetting  those  who  are  no  more; 
and  to  the  state  it  will  be  beneficial  in  two  ways, 
by  its  not  being  depopulated,  and  by  the  enjoy- 
ment of  securit}' ;  for  it  is  not  possible  that  those 
should  offer  any  fair  and  just  advice,  who  do 
not  incur  equal  risk  with  their  neighbors  by  hav- 
ing children  at  stake.  Those  of  you,  however, 
who  are  past  that  age,  must  consider  that  the 
longer  period  of  your  life  during  which  you  have 
25 


THE      WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

been  prosperous  is  so  much  gain,  and  that  what 
remains  will  be  a  short  one ;  and  you  must  cheer 
^-ourselves  with  the  fair  fame  of  these  [your  lost 
ones].  For  the  love  of  honor  is  the  only  feelinpr 
that  never  grows  old;  and  in  the  helplessness  of 
age  it  is  not  the  acquisition  of  gain,  as  some  as- 
sert, that  gives  gi-eatest  pleasure,  but  the  enjoy- 
ment of  honor. 

For  those  of  you,  on  the  other  hand,  who  are 
sons  or  brothers  of  the  dead,  great,  I  see,  will  be 
the  struggle  of  competition.  For  every  one  is 
accustomed  to  praise  the  man  who  is  no  more ; 
and  scarcely,  tho  even  for  an  excess  of  worth, 
would  you  be  esteemed,  I  do  not  saj^  equal  to 
them,  but  only  slightly  inferior.  For  the  living 
are  exposed  to  en\'y  in  their  rivalry;  but  those 
who  are  in  no  one's  way  are  honored  with  a 
good  will  free  from  all  opposition.  If,  again,  I 
must  say  anything  on  the  subject  of  woman's 
excellence  also,  with  reference  to  those  of  you 
who  will  now  be  in  widowhood,  I  will  express  it 
all  in  a  brief  exhortation.  Great  will  be  your 
glory  in  not  falling  short  of  the  natural  charac- 
ter that  belongs  to  you;  and  great  is  hers,  who 
is  least  talked  of  among  the  men,  either  for 
good  or  evil. 

I  have  now  expressed  in  word,  as  the  law  re- 
quired, what  I  had  to  say  befitting  the  occasion ; 
and,  in  deed,  those  who  are  here  interred,  have 
already  received  part  of  their  honors,  while,  for 
the  remaining  part,  the  state  will  bring  up  their 
sons   at  the   public   expense,   from   this   time   to 


PERICLES 


their  manhood;  thiis  offering  both  to  these  and 
to  their  posterity  a  beneficial  reward  for  such 
contests;  for  where  the  greatest  prizes  for  vir- 
tue are  given,  there  also  the  most  virtuous  men 
are  found  amongst  the  citizens.  And  now,  hav- 
ing finished  your  lamentations  for  your  several 
relatives,  depart. 


Ill 

IN   DEFENSE  OF  HIMSELF^ 

(430  B.C.) 

I  HAD  both  expected  the  proofs  of  your  anger 
against  me,  which  have  been  exhibited  (for  I 
am  aware  of  the  causes  of  it),  and  have  now 
convened  an  assembly  for  this  purpose,  that  I 
may  remind  you  [of  what  you  have  forgotten], 
and  reprove  you  if  in  any  respect  you  are  wrong, 
either  in  being  irritated  against  me  or  in  suc- 
cumbing to  your  misfortunes.  For  I  consider 
that  a  state  which  in  its  public  capacity  is  suc- 
cessful confers  more  benefit  on  individuals  than 
one  which  is  prosperous  as  regards  its  particu- 
lar citizens,  while  collectively  it  comes  to  ruin. 
For  tho  a  man  is  individually  prosperous,  yet  if 

'  Delivered  before  an  as.sembly  in  Athens  called  for  the  purpose, 
after  violent  criticism  had  bcfii  made  of  his  influence  in  bringing 
on  the  Peloponne^ian  War.  Reported  by  Thucydides.  Translated 
by  Henry  Dale.    Slightly  abridged. 

27 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

his  country  is  ruined,  he  none  the  less  shares  in 
its  destruction;  whereas,  if  he  is  unfortunate  in 
a  country  that  is  fortunate,  he  has  a  much  bet- 
ter hope  of  escaping  his  dangers. 

Since  then  a  state  is  able  to  bear  the  misfor- 
tunes of  individuals,  while  each  individual  is 
unable  to  bear  hers,  how  can  it  fail  to  be  the 
duty  of  all  to  support  her,  and  not  to  act  as  you 
are  now  doing,  who,  being  panic-stricken  by  your 
domestic  afflictions,  give  up  all  thought  of  the 
public  safety,  and  are  blaming  both  me  who  ad- 
vised you  to  go  to  war,  and  yourselves  who  joined 
in  voting  for  it.  And  yet  I,  with  whom  you  are 
angry,  am  a  man  who  deem  myself  second  to 
none  in  at  once  knowing  what  measures  are  re- 
quired, and  explaining  them  to  others;  a  lover 
too  of  my  country,  and  superior  to  the  influence 
of  money.  For  he  who  knows  a  thing  that  is 
right,  but  does  not  explain  it  with  clearness,  is 
no  better  than  if  he  had  never  had  a  conception 
of  it ;  and  he,  again,  who  has  both  these  requisites, 
but  is  ill-affected  towards  his  country,  would  not 
so  well  speak  for  her  interest.  And  even  if  this 
qualification  be  added  to  the  others,  while  he  is 
influenced  by  regard  for  monej',  all  of  them  to- 
gether would  be  sacrificed  for  this  one  considera- 
tion. So  that  if  you  were  persuaded  by  me  to 
go  to  war,  because  you  thought  that  I  possessed 
these  qualities  even  in  a  moderate  degree  more 
than  other  men,  I  can  not  now  fairly  be  charged 
with  injuring  you,  at  any  rate. 

For  those  indeed  to  go  to  war,  who,  while  suc- 

28 


PERICLES 


cessful  in  other  things,  have  had  a  choice  in  the 
matter  allowed  them,  it  is  great  folly.  But  if 
[in  our  case]  it  were  necessary,  either  immedi- 
ately to  submit  to  our  neighbors,  if  we  made  con- 
cessions, or  to  preserve  our  independence  by  run- 
ning a  great  risk,  then  he  who  shrank  from  the 
risk  is  more  reprehensible  than  he  who  faced  it. 
For  my  part  then,  I  am  the  same  that  I  ever 
was,  and  do  not  depart  from  my  opinion;  but 
you  are  changing,  since  it  happens  that  you 
were  persuaded  [to  go  to  war]  while  unscathed, 
but  repent  of  it  now  you  are  suffering :  and  that 
my  advice  appears  wrong  through  the  weakness 
of  your  resolution ;  because  pain  is  now  in  pos- 
session of  each  man's  feeling,  while  the  certainty 
of  the  benefit  is  as  yet  hidden  from  all :  and  a 
great  reverse  having  befallen  you,  and  that  sud- 
denly, your  mind  is  too  prostrated  to  persevere 
in  your  determinations. 

But  with  regard  to  your  trouble  in  the  war, 
lest  you  should  fear  that  it  may  prove  great,  and 
we  may  still  be  none  the  more  successful,  let 
those  arguments  suffice  you,  with  which  on  many 
other  occasions  I  have  proved  the  error  of  your 
suspicions  respecting  it.  At  the  same  time,  I 
will  also  lay  before  you  the  following  advantage, 
which  yourselves  do  not  appear  ever  yet  to  have 
thought  of  as  belonging  to  you,  res})eetiiig  the 
greatness  of  your  empire,  and  which  i  ucvit 
urged  in  my  former  speeches;  nor  would  I  eviti 
now,  as  it  has  rather  too  boastful  an  air,  if  T 
did  not  see  you  unreasonably  cast  down.  You 
29 


THE      WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

think  then  that  you  only  bear  rule  over  your 
own  subject  allies;  but  I  declare  to  you  that  of 
the  two  parts  of  the  world  open  for  man's  use, 
the  land  and  the  sea,  of  the  whole  of  the  one  you 
are  most  absolute  masters,  both  as  far  as  you 
avail  yourselves  of  it  now,  and  if  you  should 
wish  to  do  so  still  further ;  and  there  is  no  power, 
neither  the  king  nor  any  nation  besides  at  the 
present  day,  that  can  prevent  your  sailing  [where 
you  please]  with  your  present  naval  resources. 

This  power  then  evidently  is  far  from  being 
merely  on  a  level  with  the  benefits  of  your  houses 
and  lands,  which  you  think  so  much  to  be  de- 
prived of :  nor  is  it  right  for  you  to  grieve  about 
them,  but  rather  to  hold  them  cheap,  consider- 
ing them,  in  comparison  with  this  as  a  mere  gar- 
den-plot and  embellishment  of  a  rich  man's  es- 
tate. You  should  know,  too,  that  liberty,  pro- 
vided we  devote  ourselves  to  tJtat,  and  preserve 
it,  will  easily  recover  these  losses ;  whereas  those 
who  have  once  submitted  to  others  find  even  their 
greatest  gains  diminish.  Xor  should  you  show 
yourselves  inferior  in  both  respects  to  your  fath- 
ers, who  with  labor,  and  not  by  inheritance  from 
others,  acquired  these  possessions,  and  moreover 
kept  them  and  bequeathed  them  to  us ;  for  it  is 
more  disgraceful  to  be  deprived  of  a  thing  when 
we  have  got  it,  than  to  fail  in  getting  it.  On 
the  contrary,  you  should  meet  your  enemies,  not 
only  with  spirit,  ])ut  also  with  a  spirit  of  con- 
tempt. For  co7ifidcnce  is  produced  even  by  lucky 
ignorance,  ay,  even  in  a  coward ;  but  contempt  is 


PERICLES 


the  feeling  of  the  man  who  trusts  that  he  is  su- 
perior to  his  adversaries  in  counsel  also,  which 
is  our  case.  And  ability,  with  a  high  spirit,  ren- 
ders more  sure  the  daring  which  arises  from 
equal  fortune;  and  does  not  so  much  trust  to 
mere  hope,  whose  strength  mainly  displays  it- 
self in  difficulties;  but  rather  to  a  judgment 
grounded  upon  present  realities,  whose  antici- 
pations may  be  more  relied  upon. 

It  is  bi;t  fair,  too,  that  you  should  sustain  the 
dignity  of  the  state  derived  from  its  sovereignty, 
on  which  you  all  pride  yourselves;  and  that 
either  you  should  not  shrink  from  its  labors,  or 
else  should  lay  no  claim  to  its  honors  either.  Nor 
should  you  suppose  that  you  are  struggling  to 
escape  one  evil  only,  slavery  instead  of  freedom ; 
but  to  avoid  loss  of  dominion  also,  and  danger 
from  the  animosities  which  you  have  incurred 
in  your  exercise  of  that  dominion.  And  from 
this  it  is  no  longer  possible  for  you  to  retire;  if 
through  fear  at  the  present  time  any  one  is  for 
so  playing  the  honest  man  in  quiet.  For  you 
now  hold  it  as  a  tyranny,  which  it  seems  W'rong 
to  have  assumed,  but  dangerous  to  give  up.  And 
men  with  these  views  would  very  quickly  ruin 
the  state,  whether  they  persuaded  others  [to 
adopt  the  same],  or  even  lived  anywhere  inde- 
pendently by  themselves;  for  quietness  is  not  a 
safe  principle,  unless  ranged  with  activity;  nor 
is  it  for  the  interest  of  a  sovereign  state,  but  of 
a  subject  one,  that  it  niny  live  in  safe  slavery. 

Do  you  then  neither  be  seduced  by  such  citi- 
31 


THE      WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

zens,  nor  be  angry  with  me,  whom  yourselves 
^Iso  joined  in  voting  for  war,  tho  the  enemy  has 
invaded  our  country,  and  done  what  it  was  nat- 
ural that  he  should  do,  if  you  would  not  sub- 
mit; and  tho,  besides  what  we  looked  for,  this 
disease  also  has  come  upon  us — the  only  thing, 
indeed,  of  all  that  has  happened  beyond  our  ex- 
pectations. And  it  is  through  this,  I  well  know, 
that  in  some  degree  I  am  still  more  the  object 
of  your  displeasure;  j^et  not  with  justice  unless 
you  will  also  give  me  the  credit  when  you  meet 
with  any  success  beyond  your  calculation.  The 
evils  then  which  are  sent  by  heaven,  you  must 
bear  perforce ;  those  which  are  inflicted  by  your 
enemies,  with  courage:  for  such  was  formerly 
the  custom  of  this  country,  and  let  it  not  now 
meet  with  a  check  in  your  case. 

But  consider  that  it  has  the  greatest  name  in 
all  the  world  from  not  yielding  to  misfortunes, 
and  from  expending  in  war  more  lives  and  la- 
bors than  any  other  state;  and  that  it  has  now 
the  greatest  power  that  ever  existed  up  to  the 
present  time ;  the  memory  of  which,  even  should 
we  now  at  length  give  way  (for  everything  is 
naturally  liable  to  decrease),  will  be  left  to  pos- 
terity for  ever,  namelj%  that  we  had  dominion 
over  more  Greeks  than  any  other  Greek  state 
ever  had;  and  held  out  in  the  greatest  wars 
against  them,  both  collectively  and  singly ;  and 
inhabited  a  city  better  provided  with  all  things 
than  any  other,  and  greater.  And  yet  your  quiet 
man  would  find  fault  with  these  things;  but  the 
32 


PERICLES 


man  who  has  himself  a  wish  to  achieve  some- 
thing, will  emulate  them ;  while  whoever  does 
not  possess  them  will  envy  them. 

But  to  be  hated  and  offensive  for  the  tim.e 
present  has  been  the  lot  of  all  who  have  ever 
presumed  to  rule  over  others;  that  man,  how- 
ever, takes  wise  counsel,  who  incurs  envy  for 
the  greatest  things.  For  odium  does  not  last 
long;  but  present  splendor  and  future  glory  are 
handed  down  to  perpetual  memory.  Do  you 
then,  pi'oviding  both  for  your  futui'e  honor,  and 
for  your  immediate  escape  from  disgrace,  secure 
both  objects  by  your  present  spirit:  and  neither 
send  any  heralds  to  the  Lacedaemonians,  nor 
show  that  you  are  weighed  down  by  your  pres- 
ent troubles;  for  such  as  in  feeling  are  least  an- 
noyed at  their  misfortunes,  while  in  action  they 
most  courageously  resist  them,  these,  both  of 
states  and  of  individuals,  are  the  best. 


33 


CLEON 

ON  THE  PUNISHMENT  OF  THE 
MYTILENEANS 

(427  B.C.) 

feorn  after  500  B.C.,  died  in  422;  usually  classed  as  a  demagog; 
came  into  prominence  in  429  as  an  opponent  of  Pericles:  violently 
opposed  Nicias;  in  425  placed  in  charge  of  oiierations  against  Sphse- 
teria,  serving  with  Demosthenes;  in 422  deie.aed  and  slain  in  battle. 

Ox  many  other  occasions  before  this  have  I 
been  convinced  that  a  democracy  is  incapable  of 
maintaining  dominion  over  others,  and  I  am 
so  more  than  ever  from  your  present  change  of 
purpose  respecting  the  Mytilemeans.  For  owing 
to  your  daily  freedom  from  fear,  and  from  plot- 
ting against  each  other,  you  entertain  the  same 
views  toward  your  allies  also.  And  j'ou  do  not  re- 
flect, in  whatever  case  you  may  either  have  made 
a  nnstake  through  being  persuaded  by  their 
words,  or  may  have  given  way  to  pity,  that 
you  show  such  weakness  to  your  own  peril,  and 
at  tlie  same  time  too  gain  no  gratitude  from 
your  allies;  not  considering  that  it  is  a  tyran- 
nical dominion  which  you  hold,  and  over  men 
who  are  plotting  against  you,  and  involuntarily 
subject  to  you ;  and  who  obey  you  not  from 
any  favors  you  confer  on  them  to  your  own  hurt, 

'  Delivered  in  Athena  before  the  Assembly,  427  B.C.    Reported  by 
Thucydides.    Translated  by  Henry  Dale.    Slightly  abridged. 

34 


CLEON 

but  from  the  fact  of  your  beiii<?  superior  to  ihom 
through  your  power,  leather  than  their  good 
feeling. 

But  of  all  things,  it  is  the  uiot^t  fearful,  if 
nothing  of  "what  we  have  resolved  is  to  be  stead- 
fast; and  if  we  are  not  convinced  that  a  state 
with  inferior  laws  which  are  unchanged  is  bet- 
ter than  one  with  good  ones  which  are  not 
authoritative ;  that  homely  wit  with  moderation 
is  more  useful  than  cleverness  with  intemper- 
ance; and  that  the  duller  class  of  men,  com- 
pared with  the  more  talented,  generally  speak- 
ing, manage  public  affairs  better.  For  the  lat- 
ter wish  to  appear  wiser  than  the  laws,  and  to 
overrule  what  is  ever  spoken  for  the  public 
good — thinking  that  they  could  not  show  their 
wisdom  in  more  important  matters — and  by 
such  means  they  generally  ruin  their  coun- 
try. But  the  former,  distrusting  their  own 
talent,  deign  to  be  less  learned  than  the  laws, 
and  less  able  than  to  find  fault  with  the  words 
of  one  who  has  spoken  well;  and  being  judges 
on  fair  terms,  j-ather  than  I'ivals  for  a  prize, 
th(\v  are  more  commonly  right  in  their  views. 
So  then  ought  ire  also  to  do,  and  not  to  advise 
your  jxHjple  conlraiy  to  our  i-eal  opinion,  urged 
on  1)y  cleverricss  and  rivalry  of  talent. 

I,  then,  contiiuH!  of  th(,'  same  opinion;  and 
am  astonished  at  lliose  who  have  proposed  to 
discuss  a  secoTid  lime  the  case  of  the  jMytile- 
neans,  and  cjiused  in  it  a  delay  of  time,  which 
is  all  for  the  advantage  of  the  guilty  (for  so 
35 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

the  sufferer  proceeds  against  the  offender  with 
his  anger  less  Iceen;  whereas  when  retribution 
treads  most  closely  on  the  heels  of  suffering,  it 
best  matches  it  in  wreaking  vengeance).  I  won- 
der, too,  who  will  be  the  man  to  maintain  the 
opposite  opinion,  and  to  pretend  to  show  that 
the  injuries  done  by  the  Mytileneans  are  bene- 
ficial to  us,  and  that  our  misfortunes  are  losses 
to  our  allies.  It  is  evident  that  either  trusting 
to  his  eloquence  he  would  strive  to  prove,  in  op- 
position to  us,  that  what  we  consider  m^^ost  cer- 
tain has  not  been  ascertained;  or,  urged  on  by 
the  hope  of  gain,  will  endeavor  to  lead  us  away 
by  an  elaborate  display  of  specious  language. 
But  in  such  contests  as  these  the  state  gives  the 
prizes  to  others,  and  takes  only  the  dangers  it- 
self. And  it  is  you  who  are  to  blame  for  it, 
through  unwisely  instituting  these  contests;  in- 
asmuch as  you  are  accustomed  to  attend  to 
speeches  like  spectators  [in  a  theater],  and  to 
facts  like  mere  listeners  [to  what  others  tell 
you]  ;  with  regard  to  things  future,  judging  of 
their  possibility  from  those  who  have  spoken 
cleverly  about  them ;  and  with  regard  to  things 
which  have  already  occurred,  not  taking  what 
has  been  done  as  more  creditable  from  your  hav- 
ing seen  it,  than  what  has  been  only  heard  from 
those  who  in  words  have  delivered  a  clever  in- 
vective. And  so  you  are  the  best  men  to  be 
imposed  on  with  novelty  of  argument,  and  to 
be  unwilling  to  follow  up  what  has  been  ap- 
proved by  you;  being  slaves  to  every  new  para- 


C  L  E  O  N 

dox,  and  despisers  of  what  is  ordinary.  Each 
of  you  wishes,  above  all,  to  be  able  to  speak  him- 
self; but  if  that  is  not  possible,  in  rivalry  of 
those  who  so  speak,  you  strive  not  to  a|)pear  to 
have  followed  his  sentiments  at  second-hand; 
but  when  he  has  said  any  thing  cleverly,  you 
would  fain  appear  to  have  anticipated  its  ex- 
pression by  your  applause,  and  are  eager  to 
catch  beforehand  what  is  said,  and  at  the  same 
time  slow  to  forsee  the  consequences  of  it. 

Wishing  then  to  call  you  off  from  this  course, 
I  declare  to  you  that  the  ]\lytilenoans  have  in- 
jured you  more  than  any  one  state  ever  did. 
For  I  can  make  ajlowance  for  men  wlio  have 
revolted  because  they  could  not  er.dure  your 
government,  or  because  they  were  compelled  by 
their  enemies.  But  for  tho^;e  mIm)  in]ial)ited  an 
island  with  fortifications,  nnd  IkuI  only  to  fear 
our  enemies  by  sea,  on  which  eiement,  too,  they 
were  themselves  not  unprotected  against  them 
by  a  fleet  of  triremes,  and  who  lived  independ- 
ent, and  were  honored  in  the  highest  degree  by 
us,  and  theu  treated  us  in  this  way;  what  else 
did  those  men  do  than  deliberately  devise  our 
ruin,  and  rise  up  against  us,  rather  tluui  revolt 
from  us  (r(n'oll,  at  h-d-^f.  is  Iho  part  of  those 
who  are  subject  to  sonie  violent  trvjaliuent),  and 
seek  to  ruin  us  by  siding  v.ith  our  bittei'est  eiu> 
uiies?  Yet  surely  that  is  more  intolerahle  than 
if  they  waged  war  against  you  by  thi-inselves 
J'or  the  acfpiisition  of  iH)\v('r. 

But  success  is  wont  to  niake  those  states  inso- 


THE      WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

lent  to  which  it  comes  most  unexpected  and  with 
the  shortest  notice;  whereas  the  good  fortune 
which  is  according  to  men's  calculation  is  gen- 
erally more  steady  than  when  it  comes  beyond 
their  expectation ;  and,  so  to  say,  they  more 
easily  drive  off  adversity  than  they  preserve 
prosperity.  The  Mytileneans  then  ought  all 
along  to  have  been  honored  by  us  on  the  same 
footing  as  the  rest,  and  in  that  case  they  would 
not  have  come  to  such  a  pitch  of  insolence;  for 
in  other  instances,  as  well  as  theirs,  man  is  nat- 
urally inclined  to  despise  those  who  court  him, 
and  to  respect  those  who  do  not  stoop  to  him. 
But  let  them  even  now  be  punished  as  their 
crimes  deserve;  and  let  not  the  guilt  attach  to 
the  aristocracy,  while  you  acquit  the  commons. 
For  at  any  rate  they  all  alike  attacked  you;  since 
they  might  have  come  over  to  us,  and  so  have 
been  now  in  possession  of  their  city  again. 
Thinking,  however,  the  chance  they  ran  with 
the  aristocracy  to  be  the  safer,  they  joined  them 
in  revolting. 

And  now  consider;  if  you  attach  the  same 
penalties  to  those  of  the  allies  who  were  com- 
pelled by  their  enemies  to  revolt,  and  to  those 
who  did  it  voluntarily,  which  of  them,  think  yoii, 
will  not  revolt  on  any  slight  pretext,  whether 
he  either  gains  his  liberation,  if  he  succeed,  or 
incurs  no  extreme  suffering,  if  he  fail  ?  And 
so  we  shall  presently  have  to  risk  both  our  money 
and  our  lives  against  each  separate  state. 

You  ought  not  therefore  to  hold  out  any  hope, 
38 


CLEON 

either  relyii^?  on  oratory  or  purchased  with 
money,  of  their  receivin<j:  aUowanee  for  having 
erred  through  human  infirmity.  For  they  did 
not  involuntarily  hurt  you,  but  wittingly  plot- 
ted against  3'ou;  and  it  is  only  what  is  invol- 
untary that  can  claim  allowance.  I,  then,  both 
on  that  first  occasion  [so  advised  you],  and  now 
contend  that  you  should  not  rescind  your  for- 
mer resolutions,  nor  err  through  three  things, 
the  most  inexpedient  for  emj)ire,  namely,  pity, 
delight  in  oratorj^  and  lenity.  For  pity  is 
])roperty  felt  towai'd  those  of  a  kindred  temper, 
and  not  toward  those  who  will  not  feel  it  in 
return,  but  are  of  necessity  our  enemies  for  ever. 
And  the  orators  who  delight  us  with  their  lan- 
guage will  have  a  field  in  other  subjects  of  less 
importance,  instead  of  one  in  which  the  state, 
after  being  a  little  pleased,  will  pay  a  great  pen- 
alty; while  they  themselvas  from  their  good 
speaking  will  receive  good  treatment  in  return. 
And  lenity  is  shown  to  those  who  will  be  well- 
disposed  in  future,  rather  than  to  those  who 
remain  just  what  they  were,  and  not  at  all  less 
hostile. 

To  sum  up  in  one  word,  if  you  are  persuaded 
by  me,  you  will  do  what  is  just  toward  the 
.Mytileneans,  and  at  the  same  time  expedient; 
l)ut  if  you  decide  otherwise,  you  will  not  oblige 
Ihcm,  but  will  rather  ])ass  sentence  upon  your- 
selves. For  if  they  were;  right  in  revolting,  you 
cannot  properly  maintain  your  em])ire.  If, 
liowevcr,  you  determine  1o  do  so,  even  tho  it  is 
39 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

not  proper,  you  must  also,  overlooking  what  is 
right,  punish  these  men  from  regard  to  expe- 
diency, or  else  give  up  your  empire,  and  act 
the  honest  man  without  danger.  Kesolve,  then,  to  1 

requite  them  with  the  same  penalty ;  and  not  to  \ 

show  yourselves,  in  escaping  their  designs,  more  j 

insensible  than  those  who  formed  them  against  i 

you ;  considering  what  they  would  probably  have 
doik'.  if  they  had  prevailed  over  you;  especially, 
;i.s  they  were  the  first  to  begin  the  wrong.  For 
it  is  tliose  who  do  ill  to  any  one  without  reason, 
tlial  persecute  him  most  bitterly,  nay,  even  to 
tile  d/atli,  from  suspicion  of  the  danger  of  their 
enemy's  being  spared;  since  he  who  has  suffered 
evil  without  any  necessity  [but  by  provoking 
it  himself  J  is  more  bitter,  if  he  escape,  than  one 
who  was  an  enemy  on  equal  terms. 

Be  not  therefore  traitors  to  your  o^\'n  cause ; 
but  bringing  yourselves  in  feeling  as  near  as 
possible  to  the  actual  state  of  suffering,  and  re- 
flecting how  you  would  in  that  case  have  valued 
their  subjection  above  everything,  now  pay  them 
back  in  return,  not  indulging  in  weakness  at  the 
present  moment,  nor  forgetting  the  danger 
which  once  hung  over  you.  Punish  these  men, 
I  say,  as  ihey  deserve;  and  give  a  striking  ex- 
ample to  the  rest  of  your  allies,  that  whoever  re- 
volts will  pay  the  penalty  for  it  with  his  life. 
For  if  they  know  this,  you  will  less  freuently 
have  to  neglect  your  enemies,  while  you  are 
fighting  with  your  own  confederates. 
40 


ALCIBIADES 

I 

IN  SUPPORT  OF  THE  ATHENIAN  EXPEDI- 
TION TO  SICILY^ 

(414  B.C.) 

Born  in  Athens  in  450  B.C.,  died  in  404;  at  his  suggestion  Athens 

undertook  the  Sicilian  expedition,  out  of  which  came  the  military 

career  of  Alcibiades,  during  which  he  was  assassinated  in  Phrygia, 

pierced  by  a  volley  of  arrows. 

It  is  both  befitting,  Athenians,  for  me,  more 
than  others,  to  enjoy  command  (for  with  this 
topic  must  I  commence  my  speech,  since  Cleon 
has  attacked  me  upon  it),  and  at  the  same  time, 
I  deem  myself  worthy  of  it.  For  those  things 
about  which  I  am  so  assailed  with  clamor,  con- 
fer honor  on  my  ancestors  and  myself,  and  bene- 
fit on  my  country  at  the  same  time.  For  the 
Greeks  considered  our  state  to  be  greater  than 
they  had  ever  done,  even  beyond  its  actual 
poAver,  through  the  splendor  of  my  display  as 
its  deputy  to  the  Olympic  games  (whereas  they 
hoped  before  that  it  had  been  exhausted  by  the 
war)  ;  inasmuch  as  I  entered  seven  chariots — a 
number  which  no  private  individual  had  ever  yet 
entered — and  gained  the  first  prize,  ;ind  was  sec- 
ond and  fourth,  and  provided  everything  else 
in  a  style  worthy  of  my  victory.     For  according 

'  Delivr^red  in  Athens  o.s  reported  by  Thucydides.    Translated  by 
Henry  Dale. 

41 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

to  tho  usual  view  of  them,  such  things  are  a  sub- 
ject of  honor:  while,  from  the  practise  of  them, 
an  idea  of  power  is  also  formed.  And  again, 
whatever  distinction  I  gain  at  home  by  my  exhi- 
bitions of  choruses,  or  in  any  other  way,  it  is 
naturally  envied  by  my  fellow  citizens,  but  for 
foreigners  this  too  has  an  appearance  of  power. 
And  this  is  no  useless  folly,  when  a  man  benefits 
at  his  own  costs,  not  himself  only,  but  his  coun- 
try also. 

Nor  is  it  unfair  fur  one  who  prides  himself  on 
his  own  prosperity,  to  refuse  to  be  on  an  equality 
with  the  mass ;  since  in  the  same  way  he  who  is 
unfortunate  shares  his  calamities  with  no  one 
else.  But  as  we  are  not  courted  when  in  ad- 
versity, by  the  same  rule  let  a  man  also  submit 
to  be  slighted  by  the  prosperous;  or  let  him  treat 
the  unfortunate  as  on  an  equal  footing  [when 
he  is  in  prosperity],  and  so  claim  the  like  treat- 
ment in  return  [when  he  is  himself  in  ad- 
versity] .  I  know,  however,  that  men  in  such  cir- 
cumstances, and  all  who  ever  surpassed  others  in 
splendor  of  any  kind,  though  disliked  in  their 
own  lifetime,  i:iost  of  ail  in  their  dealings  with 
their  equals,  and  then  with  the  rest  of  the  world 
also,  have  yet  left  to  some  of  those  who  came 
aftei"  them  a  desire  to  claim  connection  with 
them,  even  where  there  were  no  grounds  for  it ; 
and  a  subject  for  glorying  to  the  country  they 
belonged  to,  not  as  for  aliens,  or  offenders,  but  as 
for  countrymen,  who  had  achieved  glorious 
things.  And  in  my  case,  who  aim  at  such  things, 
42 


aud  am  therefore  in  private  assailed  willi  clamor, 
consider,  with  reg-ard  to  public  att'airs,  whether 
I  administer  them  in  a  manner  inferior  to  any 
one  else,  or  not.  For  having  united  the  most 
powerful  states  of  the  Peloponnese.  without  any 
great  danger  or  expense  to  you.  I  brought  the 
LacediLmionians  to  a  single  day's  struggle  for 
their  all  at  ^Nlantinea ;  in  consequence  of  which, 
altho  they  were  victorious  in  the  battle,  they  do 
not  ever  now  feel  any  firm  confidence  in  them- 
selves. 

In  this  way,  then,  did  my  youth  and  preter- 
natural folly,  as  it  is  thought,  deal  with  the 
power  of  the  Peloponnesians  by  means  of  suita- 
ble arguments ;  and,  gaining  credit  by  my  vehe- 
mence, obtained  their  assent.  And  now  too  be 
not  afraid  of  it ;  but  while  I  am  still  in  the  flower 
of  it,  and  Xieias  appears  fortunate,  avail  your- 
S(^lves  fully  of  the  services  of  each  of  us.  And 
with  regard  to  the  expedition  to  Sicily,  change 
not  your  determination  from  an  idea  that  it 
would  be  undertaken  against  a  great  power.  For 
it  is  only  with  a  mixed  rabl)le  that  its  cities  are 
populous;  and  they  easily  admit  changes  in  their 
government,  and  adopt  new  ones.  And  for  this 
reason  no  one  is  furnished,  ns  though  in  behalf 
of  his  ov.n  coimtry,  either  with  arms  for  the  per- 
son, or  with  ordinary  resources,  as  regards  the 
country;  but  whatever  each  one  thinks  that  ht^ 
can  get  from  the  people,  either  by  persuading 
them  throuuh  his  oratory,  or  hy  factious  meas- 
ures, and  will  so  find  a  home  in  another  land,  h 
43 


THE      WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

case  of  his  not  being  successful,  with  that  he  pro- 
vides himself.  It  is  not  likely,  then,  that  a  popu- 
lace of  such  a  character  should  either  listen  to 
any  counsel  with  one  heart,  or  apply  themselves 
to  action  in  common ;  but  they  would  severally 
side  Avith  whatever  was  said  to  please  them ;  es- 
pecially if  they  are  torn  by  factions,  as  we  hear. 
Again,  with  regard  to  heavy-armed  troops, 
neither  have  the  Siceliots  so  many  as  are  boasted 
of,  nor  did  the  rest  of  the  G  reeks  prove  so  numer- 
ous as  they  severally  reckoned  themselves;  but 
Greece  had  very  much  misstated  them,  and  was 
with  difficulty  equipped  with  them  in  sufficient 
numbers  on  the  outbreak  of  this  war.  The  states 
in  those  parts,  then,  from  what  I  learn  by  report, 
are  of  this  character,  and  still  more  easy  to  deal 
with — for  we  shall  have  many  barbarians,  who 
from  hatred  of  the  Syracusans  v/ill  join  us  in 
attacking  them — and  those  here  will  not  prove 
an  obstacle,  if  you  take  a  right  view  of  the  mat- 
ter. For  our  fathers  had  these  \'cry  men,  whom 
they  say  you  would  leave  behind  3'ou  in  hostility 
when  sailing  there,  and  the  ]\Iede  beside,  as  their 
enemies ;  and  still  they  won  their  empire ;  tho 
strong  in  nothing  else  but  the  superiority  of 
their  fleet.  And  as  things  stand  now,  never  yet 
were  the  Peloponnesians  more  hopeless  with  re- 
gard to  us ;  and  even  if  they  are  ever  so  confi- 
dent, for  invading  our  country  indeed  they  are 
strong  enough,  even  tho  we  do  not  under- 
take the  expedition ;  but  with  their  naval  force 
they  cannot  hurt  us   [tho  we  do  not  undertake 


ALC'iBlADKS 

From  a  Biisl  in   ihc   (.  Icniciilirw  Miiseiini   al  Rome 


ALCIBIADES 


it],,  for  Ave  have  a  fleet  left  behind  that  is  a 
match  for  them. 

On  what  reasonable  argument,  then,  could  we 
ourselves  shrink  from  it ;  or  on  what  plea  ad- 
dressed to  our  allies  there  could  we  refuse  to 
succor  them  ?  For  since  we  have  entered  into 
league  with  them,  we  ought  to  assist  them,  and 
not  to  object  that  they  too  have  not  assisted  us. 
For  v/e  united  them  with  ils,  not  that  they  might 
come  here  to  help  us  in  their  turn,  but  that  by 
anucniug  our  enemies  there  they  might  prevent 
tbv  ir  coiiiing  here  to  attack  us.  And  it  is  in  this 
w;iy  that  empire  has  been  won.  both  by  us  and 
by  ;;1]  others  who  have  enjoyed  it:  I  mean,  b}^ 
rL-.'idily  taking  part  with  those  barbarians  or 
<;rH(];.s  who  from  time  to  time  called  them  to 
liiMir  aid;  since  if  all  should  remain  quiet,  or 
nicely  choose  whom  they  ought  to  assist;  we 
should  make  but  slight  additions  to  it.  but  should 
i-ather  run  a  risk  of  losing  even  what  it  now  is. 
For  men  do  not  only  defend  themselves  against 
a  superior  when  he  has  attacked  them,  but  also 
'tril^e  the  first  blow,  to  prevent  his  attacking 
ihcm.  And  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  portion 
out  exactly  how  far  we  wish  to  hold  dominion ; 
'lit  since  vre  are  in  our  present  position,  we  must 
form  designs  against  some,  and  not  give  up 
others;  because  we  should  be  subjected  to  the 
rule  of  anoth(^r  party,  if  we  did  not  ourselves 
rule  over  others.  \or  must  you  take  the  same 
view  of  quiet  as  the  rest  of  the  world,  unless  you 
will  also  receive  fresh  institutions  assimilating  to 

45 


THE      WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

tlieirs.  Considering,  then,  that  wc  shall  rather 
aggrandize  our  possessions  here,  if  we  go  in 
quest  of  those  there,  let  us  make  the  expedition ; 
that  we  may  both  prostrate  the  pride  of  the 
Peloponnesians,  by  being  seen,  regardless  of 
present  peace,  to  sail  even  against  Sicily;  and 
at  the  same  time,  by  either  ruling,  as  we  most 
probably  shall,  over  the  whole  of  Greece,  through 
being  joined  by  those  there,  or  at  any  rate  by 
injuring  the  Syracusans,  by  which  both  our- 
selves and  our  allies  will  be  benefited. 

And  as  for  security,  whether  for  remaining 
there,  in  case  of  any  success,  or  for  returning, 
our  fleet  will  provide  us  with  it ;  for  by  sea  we 
shall  be  superior  to  all  the  Siceliots  put  together. 
And  let  not  the  non-interfering  policy  which 
Nicias  recommends  in  his  speeches,  nor  his  set- 
ting the  young  against  the  old,  divert  you  from 
your  purpose;  but  acting  in  your  usual  order, 
just  as  our  fathers,  by  consulting  young  with 
old,  raised  the  state  to  its  present  height,  do  ye 
now  too,  in  the  same  manner,  endeavor  to  ad- 
vance it ;  being  convinced  that  youth  and  old 
age  can  do  nothing  without  each  other ;  but  that 
the  period  of  levity,  and  of  mid-age,  and  of  ex- 
treme preciseness,  will  have  most  power  when 
joined  together;  and  that  the  state,  if  it  remain 
quiet,  will  be  worn  out  on  itself,  like  anything 
else,  and  its  skill  in  everything  grow  dull :  while 
by  entering  into  contest  it  will  continually  gain 
fresh  experience,  and  will  find  self-defense  ha- 
bitual to  it,  not  in  word,  but  rather  in  deed.  My 
4G 


ALCIBIADES 


decided  opinion  then  is,  that  I  think  a  state  of 
no  inactive  character  would  most  quickly  be 
ruined  ]\v  a  chang:e  to  inactivity;  and  that  those 
men  live  most  securely,  who  regulate  their  affairs 
in  accordance  with  thinr  existing  habits  and  in- 
stitutions, even  though  they  may  be  of  an  in- 
ferior character,  with  the  least  variation. 


II 

TO  THE  SPARTANS* 

(413  B.C.) 

And  now  I  beg  that  I  may  not  be  the  worse 
thought  of  by  any  among  you,  because  I  am  now 
strenuou.sly  attacking  my  country  with  its  bit- 
terest enemies,  tho  I  formerly  had  a  reputation 
f(U"  patriotism ;  and  that  my  words  may  not  be 
susp(  cted  on  the  score  of  an  exile's  forwardness. 
For  tho  I  am  an  exile,  as  regards  the  villainy  of 
those  who  banished  me,  I  am  not  one,  as  regards 
assistance  to  you,  if  you  will  be  persuaded  by 
me ;  and  the  party  hostile  to  me  was,  not  you, 
who  only  hurt  your  foes,  but  rather  they  who 
coTiipellcd    th(-ir    friends    to   become    their   foes. 

]My  j^atriotism,  too,  1  keep  not  at  a  time  when 

1  Delivered  in  Spai'ta  in  41:5  B.C.  Alcibiades,  on  being  recalled 
from  Sicily  to  stand  ti'ial  at  Atlirns,  liaii  gone  to  Sparta,  w)iere  he 
prevaili'd  ni)oii  its  pcujtle  to  as-^ist  Syracuse  in  the  war  with  Athens. 
Reported  l)y  Tliucydidcs.     Tninslafed  l)y  Henry  Dale. 

■17 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

I  am  being  wronged,  but  only  while  I  enjoyed 
rny  civil  rights  in  security.  Nor  do  I  consider 
myself  to  be  going  against  what  is  still  my 
country,  but  much  rather  to  be  recovering  that 
country  which  is  mine  no  more.  And  the 
patriot,  in  the  true  sense,  is  not  that  man 
who,  when  he  has  unjustly  lost  his  coun- 
try, abstains  from  aggression  upon  it,  but 
he  who,  because  of  his  longing  for  it,  endeavors 
by  all  means  to  regain  it.  Thus,  as  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  I  beg  you,  Lacedfemonians,  fearlessly 
to  command  my  services,  both  for  danger  and 
trouble  of  every  kind ;  loiowing  that  argument 
which  is  advanced  by  all,  namely,  that  if  as  your 
enemy  I  did  you  very  great  harm,  I  might  also 
as  your  friend  do  you  great  service;  inasmuch  cis 
1  know  the  plans  of  the  Athenians,  while  I  only 
guessed  yours.  I  beg,  too,  that  on  your  own  part 
also,  being  convinced  that  you  are  consulting 
about  3^our  greatest  interests,  you  will  not  shrink 
from  the  expedition  both  against  Sicily  and  At- 
tica; that  by  joining  them  with  a  small  ])nrt  of 
your  forces,  you  may  at  once  preserve  the  great 
states  in  Sicily,  and  overthrow  the  present  and 
future  power  of  the  Athenians;  and  may  after- 
wards live  in  security  yourselves,  and  enjo.v  a 
voluntary  supremacy  over  the  whole  of  Greece 
resting  not  on  force  but  on  affection. 


4S 


NICIAS 

AGAINST    THE    SICILIAN    EXPEDITION* 

(414  B.C.) 

As  a  general,  successful  against  the  Spartans;  the  peace  of  421  B.C. 

named  after  him;  one  of  the  commanders  of  the  expedition  a^inst 

Sicily  which  he  had  t^trongly  opposed;  won  several  battle*,  but  was 

defeated  in  413  and  put  to  death. 

This  assembly  was,  it  is  true,  convened  to  con- 
sider the  subject  of  our  preparations,  namely,  in 
what  way  we  ought  to  make  the  expedition  to 
Sicily.  My  opinion,  however,  is,  that  we  ought 
still  to  consider  this  very  point,  whether  it  be 
better  to  send  out  our  ships;  and  not  on  such 
slight  delii)eration  on  matters  of  great  moment, 
at  the  instigation  of  aliens,  to  take  upon  our- 
selves a  war  with  which  we  have  nothing  to  do. 
And  yet  I,  for  my  own  part,  receive  honor  from 
suf'li  a  policy,  and  have  less  fear  than  othei^s  for 
my  own  personal  safety  (tho  I  consider  that 
man  to  be  an  equally  good  citizen  who  takes  some 
forethought  both  for  his  person  and  his  property  ; 
for  such  a  man  would,  for  his  own  sake,  be  most 
desirous  that  his  '■oun'fry  also  should  prosper); 
nevertheless,  neither  aforetime  have  I  ever 
spokon  contrary  to  my  convictions,  for  the  sake 
of  being  honored  above  others,  nor  will  I  now, 
but  as  I  think  best,  so  will  I  speak.     And  tho 

'  Delivered  before  the  Asseml)ly  at  Athens.  Reported  by  Thucyd- 
.•des.    Translated  by  Henry  I)al".    (Jne  paragraph  omitted. 

49 


THE      WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

against  your  inclinations  my  words  would  be 
powerless,  should  I  advise  you  to  keep  what  you 
have,  and  not  expose  your  present  possessions  to 
danger  for  things  which  are  uncertain  and  fu- 
ture; yet  that  neither  are  you  timely  in  your 
haste,  nor  the  objects  of  your  ambition  easy  to 
attain,  on  these  points  I  will  give  you  instruc- 
tion. 

I  say  then,  that  you  wish,  tho  leaving  many 
enemies  behind  you  here,  to  bring  hither  fresh 
ones  besides,  by  sailing  there.  And  you  fancy, 
perhaps,  that  the  treaty  that  has  been  made  by 
you  affords  some  ground  of  confidence.  But 
tho  as  long  as  you  remain  quiet,  that  will, 
indeed,  be  a  treaty^in  name  (for  this  condi- 
tion have  certain  persons  here  and  among  your 
enemies  brought  it  by  their  intrigues),  yet  if  we 
are  ever  defeated  with  any  considerable  force, 
those  who  hate  us  will  quickly  make  an  attack 
upon  us ;  seeing,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  ar- 
rangement was  made  of  necessity  by  them,  under 
circumstances  of  disaster,  and  of  greater  dis- 
credit to  them  than  to  us ;  and,  secondly,  that  in 
this  very  arrangement  we  have  many  subjects 
open  to  debate.  There  are  some,  too,  who  have 
not  yet  acceded  even  to  this  composition,  such  as 
it  is,  and  those  not  the  least  powerful  states ; 
but  some  of  them  are  at  war  with  u^  downright, 
and,  in  the  case  of  others,  because  the  Lacedae- 
monians remain  quiet  at  present,  they  too  are 
restrained  by  truces  from  one  ten  days  to  an- 
other. But  probably,  if  they  should  find  our 
50 


N  I  C  I  A  S 

p(nver  divided  uvhicli  we  are  noAV  so  anxious  to 
liriu,£r  ab(M!t),  they  Avould  -with  all  their  might 
attack  us.  in  conjunction  with  the  Siceliots, 
whose  alliance  they  wouhl  in  time  past  have 
valued  most  highly. 

Every  one  therefore  ought  to  look  to  this,  and 
not  presume  to  run  risks  with  a  state  so  unset- 
tled, and  to  grasp  at  another  empire  before  we 
have  secured  the  one  we  have ;  seeing  that  the 
Chalcidians  Tlnvaceward,  tho  they  have  revolted 
from  us  so  many  years,  are  still  unsubdued;  and 
there  are  some  others  on  the  different  coasts  of 
the  mainland  who  yield  us  but  a  doubtful  obedi- 
ence. And  so  we  are  cjuick  to  succor  the  Seges- 
tans,  who  are  our  allies,  forsooth,  as  being  in- 
jured: but  on  those  by  whose  revolt  we  have  our- 
selves long  ago  been  injured,  we  still  defer  to 
avenge  ourselves. 

And  yet  the  latter,  if  subdued,  might  be  kept 
in  subjection  by  us ;  but  the  former,  even  if  we 
conquered  them,  we  should  hardly  be  able  to 
govern,  so  far  off  and  so  numerous  as  they  are. 
But  it  is  folly  to  go  against  men  whom  we  could 
not  keep  under,  if  we  conquered  them;  while,  if 
we  did  not  succeed  in  the  attempt,  we  should 
not  be  in  the  same  jjosition  as  we  win'c  before  ma- 
kimr  it.  Again,  7'cgardiiig  i\w  ])resent  condition 
of  the  Siceliots,  they  appear  to  me  even  still  less 
likely  to  be  formidable  to  us,  if  the  Syracusans 
should  have  dominion  over  them:  that  supposi- 
tion with  which  the  Segestans  especially  try  to 
frighten  us.  For  at  present  they  might,  perhaps, 
51 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

come  hither  as  separate  states,  to  oblige  the  Lace- 
dcemonians ;  but  in  the  other  case,  it  is  not  likeh^ 
that  they  should  undertake  the  expedition,  em- 
pire against  empire ;  for  in  the  same  manner  as 
they,  in  conjunction  with  the  Lacedaemonians, 
had  taken  away  ours,  it  is  probable  that  they 
would  have  their  own  taken  away  by  the  same 
Peloponnesians,  and  bj^  the  same  principle. 

And  the  Greeks  in  those  parts  would  be  most 
in  awe  of  us,  if  we  did  not  go  there  at  all ;  and 
next  to  that,  if  after  making  a  demonstration  of 
our  power  we  retired  in  a  short  time;  but  if  we 
should  meet  with  any  reverse,  they  would  very 
quickly  despise  us,  and  attack  us  in  concert  with 
our  enemies  here.  For  we  all  know  that  what 
is  farthest  off  is  most  admired,  and  what  gives 
the  least  room  for  having  its  fame  tested.  And 
this  has  at  present  been  your  case,  Athenians, 
v/ith  reference  to  the  LacedaBmonians  and  their 
allies;  from  having,  contrary  to  your  expecta- 
tion, gained  the  advantage  over  them  (compar- 
ing your  present  position  with  the  fears  you  at 
first  entertained),  you  have  despised  them,  and 
are  now  desiring  the  conquest  of  Sicily.  You 
ought  not,  however,  to  be  elated  through  the  mis- 
fortunes of  your  adversaries,  but  then  only  to 
feel  confident  when  you  have  mastered  their 
spirits ;  nor  should  you  think  that  the  Laccdce- 
monians  are  doing  aught  but  considering,  in  eon- 
sequence  of  their  disgrace,  in  what  way  they  may 
even  now,  if  possible,  overthrow  us,  and  bring 
their  own  discredit  to  a  happy  termination;  es- 

52 


NIC  I  AS 

I-niiit  a  Hiisl  ill   lite   Capilol  al   ilniK 


NICIAS 

peci^lly  as  they  have  studied  a  reputation  for 
bravery,  as  a  thing  of  the  greatest  importance, 
and  for  the  greatest  length  of  time.  So  that  our 
great  struggle  will  be,  if  we  arc  wise,  not  for  the 
Segestans  in  Sicily,  men  who  are  barbarians,  but 
that  we  may  vigorously  guard  against  a  state 
which  is  plotting  against  us  by  the  spread  of 
oligarchical  pi'inciples. 

I  am  alarmed,  indeeti,  when  I  see  such  charac- 
ters sitting  here  at  present  by  the  side  of  that 
same  individual,  in  compliance  with  his  bidding; 
and  in  return  I  bid  the  older  men — whichevei-  of 
them  may  have  one  of  those  characters  sitting  by 
him — not  to  be  put  down  through  shame,  in 
order  to  avoid  being  thought  a  coward  if  he 
should  not  vote  for  going  to  war;  nor,  as  their 
opponents  themselves  mJght  feel,  to  be  madly 
enamored  of  what  they  do  not  possess ;  being  con- 
vinced that  in  very  few  things  do  men  succeed 
through  desire,  but  in  very  many  through  fore 
thought ;  but  in  behalf  of  their  country,  as  expo- 
sing itself  to  the  greatest  danger  it  has  ever  done, 
to  give  their  support  to  the  opposite  side,  and 
vote  that  the  feiccliots  keep  the  same  boundaries 
with  respect  to  us  as  at  present — boundaries  with 
which  no  one  can  find  fault — namely,  the  Ionian 
Sea,  if  one  sail  along  shore;  and  the  Sicilian,  if 
one  cross  the  open  deep ;  and  that  while  they 
enjoy  their  own  possessions,  they  shall  also  settle 
their  own  (|uarrels:  and  that  we  tell  the  Seges- 
tans in  p;ir1if'ular,  that  since  they  went  to  war 
with  the  Selinuntines  in  the  first  instnnce  with- 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

out  consultinjij  the  Athenians,  they  may  also 
make  peace  with  Ihem  by  themselves;  and  that 
we  do  not  in  future  make  alliance,  as  we  have 
been  accustomed,  with  men  whom  we  shall  assist 
when  they  are  unfortunate,  and  when  we  ask 
assistance  ourselves,  shall  not  obtain  it. 

And  do  you,  Prytanis,  if  you  think  it  your 
duty  to  care  for  the  state,  and  if  you  wish  to 
show  yourself  a  good  citizen,  put  this  to  the  vote, 
and  take  a  second  time  the  opinion  of  the  Athe- 
nians; reflecting,  if  you  feel  afraid  to  move  the 
question  again,  that  the  violation  of  the  law 
Avould  not,  w^ith  so  many  abettors,  involve  any 
guilt;  but  that  you  would  be  acting  as  a  physi- 
cian to  the  state,  when  it  had  taken  bad  counsel ; 
and  that  good  government  consists  in  this, — for 
a  man  to  do  his  country  as  much  good  as  pos- 
sible, or,  at  least,  to  do  it  voluntarily  no  harm. 


t>4 


HERMOCRATES 

ON  THE  UNION   OF  SICILY  AGAINST 
INVADERS^ 

(416  B.C.) 

Born  in  400  B.C.,  died  in  407;  promoted  tlie  union  of  tlie  Sicilian 
cities  which  made  po.ssibl*  tlie  defeat  of  Atliens  in  413;  and  in  4Vi 
went  to  Asia  Minor,  wliere  he  was  successful  for  a  time,  but  then 
lost  a.  battle,  was  removed  from  command  and  sent  into  exile; 
fought  against  Carthage;  died  while  attempting  to  reinstate  him- 
self in  Syracuse. 

It  is  not  because  I  am  of  a  city  that  is  either 
tli*^  least  powerful,  or  the  most  distressed  by  hos- 
tilities that  I  shall  address  you,  Sicilians,  but  in 
order  publicly  to  state  what  appears  to  me  the 
best  policy  for  the  whole  of  Sicily.  And  now 
with  rea'ard  to  war,  to  prove  that  it  is  a  disas- 
trous thincf,  why  need  one  particularize  all  the 
evil  involved  in  it,  and  so  juake  a  Ions,'  speech 
before  those  who  are  acquainted  with  it?  For 
no  one  is  either  driven  to  engage  in  it  through 
ignorance,  or  deterred  from  it  by  fear,  should  lie 
think  that  he  will  gain  any  advantage;  but  it  is 
the  lot  of  the  former  to  imagine  the  gains  greater 
than  the  dangers;  and  the  latter  will  face  the 
perils  rather  than  put  up  with  any  present  loss. 
But  if  both  should  happen  to  be  thus  acting  un- 
seasonably, exhortations  to  peace  would  be  use- 
i'ul.     And  this  would  be  most  serviceable  to  us 

'  Delivored   in    Syracuse    ))efore    the    Assembly,      lleported    by 
TLucydidt's.    Transhiled  by  ILer.rv  !»ali-. 


THE      WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

too  at  the  present  time,  if  we  did  but  believe  it. 
For  it  was  surely  with  a  purpose  of  well  securing 
our  own  several  interests  that  we  both  went  to 
war  at  first,  and  are  endeavoring  by  means  of 
conference  to  come  to  terms  again  with  each 
other;  and  if  each  one  should  not  succeed  in  go- 
ing away  with  what  is  fair,  we  shall  proceed  to 
hostilities  again. 

We  should  be  convinced,  however,  that  it  is 
not  for  our  own  separate  interests  alone,  if  we 
are  wise,  that  this  congress  vrill  be  held;  but  to 
consider  whether  we  shall  be  able  any  longer  to 
save  the  whole  of  Sicily,  which,  as  I  conceive,  is 
the  object  of  the  machinations  of  the  Athenians. 
And  we  should  regard  that  people  as  much  more 
compulsory  mediators  in  such  case  than  my 
words ;  who,  possessing  as  they  do  the  greatest 
power  of  all  the  Greeks,  are  watching  our  blun- 
ders, being  here  with  a  few  ships ;  and  under  the 
legitimate  name  of  alliance  are  speciously  bring- 
ing to  a  profitable  conclusion  their  natural  hos- 
tility to  us.  For  if  we  go  to  war,  and  call  them 
in  to  our  aid,  men  who  of  their  own  accord  turn 
their  arms  even  upon  such  as  do  not  call  them 
in;  and  if  we  injure  ourselves  by  means  of  our 
own  resources,  and  at  the  same  time  pave  the 
way  for  their  dominion;  it  is  probable  that  v;hen 
they  observe  us  worn  out,  they  will  come  hi're- 
after  with  a  great  force,  find  endeavor  to  bring 
all  these  states  into  subjection  to  them. 

And  yet  we  ought,  if  v'  are  wise,  to  aim  at  ac- 
quiring for  our  own   )•  si'pctive  countries  what 


HERMOCRATES 


does  not  belong  to  them,  rather  than  at  dimin- 
ishing what  they  already  have,  both  in  calling 
in  allies  and  incui'iing  fresh  dangers;  and  to 
consider  that  faction  is  most  ruinous  to  states, 
and  particularly  to  Sicil.y,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  are  all  being  plotted  against,  while  we  are 
at  variance  city  with  city.  Knowing  this  then, 
we  ought  to  make  peace,  individual  with  indi- 
vidual, and  state  with  state,  and  to  make  a  com- 
mon effort  to  save  the  whole  of  Sicily;  and  the 
thought  should  be  entertained  by  no  one,  that 
tho  the  Dorian  part  of  us  are  enemies  of  the 
Athenians,  the  Chalcidian  race  is  secured  by  its 
Ionian  connection.  For  they  are  not  attacking 
our  nations,  because  they  are  different,  and  from 
their  hatred  of  one  of  them ;  but  from  coveting 
the  good  things  of  Sicily,  which  we  possess  in 
cominon.  And  this  they  have  now  shown  upon 
the  invitation  of  the  Chalcidian  race ;  for  to  those 
who  had  never  yet  assisted  them  on  the  ground 
of  their  alliance,  they  themselves  with  forward- 
ness answered  their  claim,  beyond  the  letter  of 
the  compact. 

^Yith  regard  to  the  Athenians  then,  so  great  is 
found  to  l;e  the  benefit  of  our  taking  good  advic(\ 
And  with  regard  to  peace,  which  is  acknowledged 
by  all  to  be  a  most  excellent  thing,  how  can  it 
fail  to  be  ineumlx  nt  on  i;s  to  r'(-,nc-lude  it  amoiiL'- 
ourselves?  Or  do  you  tliinlv,  that  whatever  gocd 
tliinir,  or  the  coiit rni'v,  .'inyoiie  has,  quiet  wor.M 
I'ot  nioro  eff f^r-tunlly  1h;in  war  put  a  stop  to  V.v 
latter,  and  help  to  preserve  the  former;  and  that 
57 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

peace  has  not  the  less  hazardous  honors  and 
splendors  ?  with  all  other  topics  which  one  might 
discuss  in  many  words,  on  such  a  subject  as  war. 
Considering  then  these  things,  you  ought  not  to 
disregard  what  I  sa}",  but  should  rather  provide 
each  for  your  own  safety  in  compliance  with  it. 
And  if  any  one  think  that  he  shall  certainly  gain 
some  advantage,  either  by  right  or  might,  let  him 
not  be  annoyed  by  failure  through  the  unex- 
pected result ;  knowing  that  many  men  ere  now, 
both  while  pursuing  with  vengeance  those  who 
have  wronged  them,  and  hoping,  in  other  in- 
stances, to  win  an  advantage  by  greater  power, 
in  the  one  case,  so  far  from  avenging  themselves, 
have  not  even  saved  themselves ;  and  in  the  other, 
instead  of  gaining  more,  have  happened  also  to 
lose  what  they  had.  For  vengeance  is  not  neces- 
sarily successful,  because  a  man  is  injured ;  nor 
is  strength  sure,  because  it  is  sanguine.  But  the 
incalculable  nature  of  the  future  prevails  to  the 
greatest  j)Ossible  degree ;  and  tho  the  most  decep- 
tive of  all  things,  still  proves  the  most  useful ; 
for  because  we  are  equally  afraid,  we  are  more 
cautious  in  attacking  one  another. 

And  now,  on  account  of  our  indefinite  fear  of 
this  unknown  future,  and  our  inanediate  dread 
of  the  Athenians'  presence,  being  alarmed  on 
both  these  grounds,  and  thinking,  with  regard 
to  any  failure  in  our  ideas  of  what  we  severally 
thought  to  achieve,  that  these  obstacles  are  a  suf- 
ficient bar  to  tht'ir  fulfilment,  let  us  semi  away 
from  the  country  the  enemy  thai   is  among  us, 


HERMOCRATES 


and  ourselves  make  peace  forever,  if  possible; 
but  if  not  that,  let  us  make  a  treaty  for  the  long- 
est term  we  can,  and  put  olf  our  private  differ- 
ences to  a  future  period.  In  a  word,  let  us  be 
convinced  that  by  following  my  advice  we  shall 
each  have  a  free  city,  from  which  we  shall,  as 
our  own  masters,  make  an  equally  good  return  to 
him  who  treats  us  either  well  or  ill ;  Init  if, 
through  not  following  it,  we  are  subject  to  others, 
then,  not  speak  of  avenging  ourselves  on  any 
one,  we  necessarily  become,  even  if  most  fortu- 
nate, friends  to  our  greatest  enemies,  and  at  vari- 
ance with  those  with  whom  we  ought  not  to  be  so. 
And  for  myself,  altho,  as  I  said  at  the  be- 
ginning of  my  speech,  I  represent  a  most  power- 
ful city,  and  am  more  likely  to  atUick  another 
than  to  defend  myself,  yet  I  think  it  right  to  pro- 
vide against  these  things,  and  to  make  conces- 
sions; and  not  so  to  injure  my  enemies  as  to  incur 
greater  damage  myself;  nor  through  a  foolish 
animosity  to  think  that  I  have  absolute  sway 
alike  over  my  own  plans  and  over  fortune,  which 
I  can  not  control :  ])ut  to  give  way,  as  far  as  is 
r-^asonable.  And  I  call  on  j'ou  all,  of  your  own 
free  will,  to  act  in  the  same  manner  as  myself, 
and  not  to  be  compelled  to  do  it  by  your  enemies. 
Foi-  there  is  no  disgrace  in  connections  giving 
way  to  connections,  whether  a  Dorian  to  a  Dorian, 
or  a  Chalcidian  to  those  of  the  same  race;  in 
a  word,  all  of  us  who  are  neighbors,  aiul  live  to- 
gether in  one  country,  and  that  an  island,  aiul 
are  called  by  the  one  name  of  Sicilians.  For  we 
59 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

shall  go  to  war  again,  I  suppose,  when  it  may  so 
happen,  and  come  to  terms  again  among  our- 
selves by  means  of  general  conferences;  but  to 
foreign  invaders  we  shall  always,  if  we  are  wise, 
offer  united  resistance,  inasmuch  as  by  our  sepa- 
rate losses  we  are  collectively  endangered ;  and 
we  shall  never  in  future  call  in  any  allies  or 
mediators.  For  by  acting  thus  Ave  shall  at  the 
present  time  avoid  depriving  Sicily  of  two  bless- 
ings— riddance  both  of  the  Athenians  and  of 
civil  war — and  shall  in  future  enjoy  it  by  our- 
selves in  freedom,  and  less  exposed  to  the  mach- 
inations of  others. 


eo 


LYSIAS 

AGAINST  ERATOSTHENES^ 

(403  B.C.) 

Born  about  440  B.C..  died  in  380;  fled  from  the  Thirty  Tyrants  In 
404  after  they  had  put  his  brother  to  death;  returned  to  Athens 
after  the  restoration  of  the  Democracy,  and  won  great  reputation 
as  an  orator,  but  only  34  of  his  IGO  known  speeches  have  survived. 

It  is  an  easy  matter,  0  Athenians,  to  begin 
this  accusation.  But  to  end  it  without  doing  in- 
justice to  the  cause  will  be  attended  with  no 
small  difficulty.  For  the  crimes  of  Eratosthenes 
are  not  only  too  atrocious  to  describe,  but  too 
many  to  enumerate.  No  exaggeration  can  ex- 
ceed, and  within  the  time  assigned  for  this  dis- 
course it  is  impossible  fully  to  represent  them. 
This  trial,  too,  is  attended  with  another  singular- 
ity. In  other  causes  it  is  usual  to  ask  the  accus- 
ers: "What  is  your  resentment  against  the  de- 
fendants ? ' '  But  here  you  must  ask  the  defend- 
ant :  ' '  What  was  your  resentment  against  your 
country?  What  malice  did  you  bear  your  fel- 
low citizens?  Why  did  you  rage  with  unbridled 
fury  against  the  state  itself?" 

The  time  has  now  indeed  come,  Athenians, 
when,  insensible  to  pity  and  tenderness,  you 
must  be  armed  with  just  severity  against  Eratos- 

'  Dehvered  in  Athens  in  403  B.C.,  and  "the  most  splendi  I  of  liis 
extant  .speeches,"  says  K.  C.  .Tebb.  Kratostlienes,  as  one  of  il!i> 
Tyrants.  wa.s  responsible  for  the  death  of  the  brother  of  Lysi,.s. 
Abridged. 

61 


THE      WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

thenes  and  his  associates.  What  avails  it  to  have 
coiKiuered  them  in  the  field,  if  you  be  overcome 
by  them  in  your  councils?  Do  not  show  them 
more  favor  for  what  they  boast  they  will  per- 
form, than  resentment  for  what  they  have  al- 
ready committed.  Nor,  after  having  been  at  so 
much  pains  to  become  masters  of  their  persons, 
allow  them  to  escape  without  suffering  that  pun- 
ishment which  you  once  sought  to  inflict;  but 
prove  yourselves  worthy  of  that  good  fortune 
which  has  given  you  power  over  your  enemies. 

The  contest  is  very  unequal  between  Eratos- 
thenes and  you.  Formerly  he  was  both  judge 
and  accuser ;  but  we,  even  while  we  accuse,  must 
at  the  same  time  make  our  defense.  Those  who 
were  innocent  he  put  to  death  without  trial.  To 
those  who  are  guilty  we  allow  the  benefit  of  law, 
even  tho  no  adequate  punishment  can  ever  be 
inflicted.  For  should  we  sacrifice  them  and  their 
children,  would  this  compensate  for  the  murder 
of  your  fathers,  your  sons,  and  your  brothers? 
Should  we  deprive  them  of  their  property,  would 
this  indemnify  the  individuals  whom  they  have 
beggared,  or  the  state  which  they  have  plun- 
dered? Tho  they  can  not  suffer  a  punishment 
adequate  to  their  demerit,  they  ought  not,  surely, 
on  this  account,  to  escape.  Yet  how  matchless  is 
the  effrontery  of  Eratosthenes,  who,  being  now 
judged  by  the  verv^  persons  whom  he  formerly 
injured,  still  ventures  to  make  his  defense  before 
the  witnesses  of  his  crimes?  What  can  show 
more  evidently  the  contempt  in  which  he  liolds 
62 


1  .^'SIAS 


LYSI AS 

you,  or  the  confitlencc  Avliicli  he  reposes  in  others? 

Let  me  now  eonclnde  with  laying  before  you 
the  miseries  to  which  you  were  rethieed,  that  you 
may  see  the  necessity  of  talcing  punishment  on 
the  authors  of  them.  And  first,  you  who  remained 
in  the  city,  consider  tlie  severity  of  their  gov- 
ernment. You  were  reduced  to  such  a  situation 
as  to  be  forced  to  carry  on  a  war,  in  which,  if 
you  were  conquered,  you  partook  indeed  of  the 
same  liberty  with  the  conquerers;  but  if  you 
proved  victorious,  you  remained  under  the  sla- 
very of  your  magistrates.  As  to  you  of  the  Pinrus, 
you  will  remember  that  tho  you  never  lost  your 
arms  in  the  battles  which  you  fought,  yet  you 
sufTered  by  these  men  what  your  foreign  enemies 
could  never  accomplish,  and  at  home,  in  times  of 
peace,  were  disarmed  by  your  fellow  citizens. 
By  them  you  were  1)anished  from  the  country 
left  you  by  your  fathers.  Their  rage,  knowing 
no  abatement,  pursued  j^oii  abroad,  and  drove 
you  from  one  territory  to  another.  Recall  the 
cruel  indignities  which  you  suffered;  how  you 
vrere  dragged  from  the  tribunal  and  the  altars; 
how  no  place,  hoAvever  sacred,  could  shelter  you 
against  their  violence.  Others,  torn  from  their 
wives,  their  children,  their  parents,  after  putting 
an  end  to  their  miserable  lives,  were  deprived  of 
funeral  rites;  for  these  tyrants  imagined  their 
government  so  firmly  established  that  even  the 
vengeance  of  the  gods  was  unable  to  shako  it. 

But  it  is  impossible  for  one,  or  in  the  course 
of  one  trial,  to  enumerate  the  means  which  were 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

employed  to  undermine  the  power  of  this  state, 
the  arsenals  which  were  demolished,  the  temples 
sold  or  profaned,  the  citizens  banished  or  mur- 
dered, and  those  whose  dead  bodies  were  im- 
piously left  uninterred.  Those  citizens  now 
watch  your  decree,  uncertain  whether  you  will 
prove  accomplices  of  their  death  or  avengers  of 
their  murder.  I  shall  desist  from  any  further 
accusations.  You  have  heard,  you  have  seen,  you 
have  experienced.    Decide  then ! 


6i 


SOCRATES 


IN  HIS  OWN  DEFENSE^ 

(309  B.C.) 

Born  about  470  B.C.,  died  in  390;  for  a  time  followed  his  father's 
art  as  a  sculptor;  served  in  three  campaigns;  President  of  the 
Pj-itanes  in  40G  and  opposed  the  Thirty  Tyrants;  his  philosophical 
precepts,  as  thone  of  the  wisest  man  of  his  time,  known  to  us  only 
in  the  writings  of  his  disciple,  Plato. 

I  KNOW  not,  0  Athenians,  how  far  you  have 
been  influenced  by  my  accusers ;  for  my  part,  in 
listening  to  them  I  almost  forgot  myself,  so 
plausible  were  their  arguments;  however,  so  to 
speak,  they  have  said  nothing  true.  But  of  the 
many  falsehoods  which  they  have  uttered  I  won- 
dered at  one  of  them  especially,  that  in  which 
they  said  you  ought  to  be  on  your  guard  lest 
you  should  be  deceived  by  me,  as  being  eloquent 
in  speech.  For  that  they  are  not  ashamed  of 
being  forthwith  convicted  by  me  in  fact,  when 
I  shall  show  that  I  am  not  by  any  means  elo- 
rjuent,  this  seemed  to  me  the  most  shameless 
thing  in  them,  unless  indeed  they  call  him  elo- 
quent who  speaks  the  truth. 

'  Delivered  in  Athens  in  390  B.C.,  as  reported  by  Plato    in  the 
'•Apology. "    Translated  by  Henry  Gary.    Abridged. 

65 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

For  if  they  mean  this,  then  I  would  allow  that 
T  am  an  orator,  but  not  after  their  fashion;  for 
they,  as  I  affirm,  have  said  nothing  true ;  but 
from  me  you  shall  hear  the  whole  truth.  Not 
indeed,  Athenians,  arguments  highly  wrought, 
as  theirs  were,  with  choice  phrases  and  expres- 
sions, nor  adorned,  but  you  shall  hear  a  speech 
uttered  without  premeditation,  in  such  words 
as  first  present  themselves.  For  I  am  confident 
that  what  I  say  will  be  just,  and  let  none  of 
you  expect  otherwise;  for  surely  it  would  not 
become  my  time  of  life  to  come  before  you  like 
a  youth  with  a  got-up  speech. 

Above  all  things,  therefore,  I  beg  and  implore 
this  of  you,  0  Athenians,  if  you  hear  me  defend- 
ing myself  in  the  same  language  as  that  in  which 
I  am  accustomed  to  speak  both  in  the  forum  at 
the  counters,  w^here  many  of  you  have  heard  me, 
and  elsewhere,  not  to  be  surprised  or  disturbed 
on  this  account.  For  the  case  is  this:  I  now 
for  the  first  time  come  before  a  court  of  justice, 
tho  more  than  seventy  years  old ;  I  am,  therefore, 
utterly  a  stranger  to  the  language  here.  As, 
then,  if  I  were  really  a  stranger,  you  would  have 
pardoned  me  if  I  spoke  in  the  language  and 
the  manner  in  which  I  had  been  educated,  so 
noAV  I  ask  this  of  you  as  an  act  of  justice,  as  it 
appears  to  me,  to  disregard  the  manner  of  my 
speech,  for  perhaps  it  may  be  somewhat  worse, 
and  perhaps  better,  and  to  consider  this  only, 
and  to  give  your  attention  to  this,  whether  I 
speak  what  is  just  or  not;  for  this  is  the  virtue 
66 


of  a  judge,  but  of  au  orator  to  speak  the  truth. 

Perhaps,  however,  some  one  may  say,  "Are 
you  not  ashamed,  Socrates,  to  have  pursued  a 
study  from  which  you  are  now  in  danger  of 
dying?"  To  such  a  person  I  should  answer  with 
good  reason :  You  do  not  say  well,  friend,  if  you 
think  that  a  man,  who  is  even  of  the  least  value, 
ought  to  take  into  the  account  the  risk  of  life 
or  death,  and  ought  not  to  consider  that  alone 
Avhen  he  performs  any  action,  whether  he  is 
acting  justly  or  unjustly  and  the  part  of  a 
good  man  or  bad  man. 

I  then  should  be  acting  strangely,  0  Athe- 
nians, if.  when  the  generals  whom  you  chose  to 
commar.d  me  assigiied  me  my  post  at  Potida^a, 
at  Amphipolis,  and  at  Dclium,  I  then  remained 
where  they  posted  me,  like  any  other  person, 
and  encountered  the  danger  of  death,  but  when 
the  deity,  as  I  thought  and  believed,  assigned  it 
as  my  duty  to  pass  my  life  in  the  study  of  phil- 
osophy, and  in  examining  im'self  and  other.s, 
I  should  on  that  occasion,  through  fear  of  death 
or  ajiylhing  else  whatsoever,  desert  my  post. 
Strange  indeed  would  it  be,  and  then  in  truth 
any  one  might  justly  bring  me  to  trial,  and  ac- 
cuse me  of  not  believing  in  the  gods,  from  diso- 
b(\ving  the  oracle,  fearing  death,  and  thinking 
myself  to  be  wise  when  I  am  not. 

For  to  fear  death,  0  Athenians,  is  nothing  else 
than  to  appear  to  be  wise  without  being  so-,  for 
it  is  to  appear  to  know  what  one  does  not  know. 
I'"'nr  no  one  knows  but  that  death  is  the  greatest 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

of  all  goods;  but  men  feareth  as  if  they  well 
knew  that  it  is  the  greatest  of  evils.  And  how 
is  not  this  the  most  reprehensible  ignorance,  to 
think  that  one  knows  what  one  does  not  know? 

But  I,  0  Athenians,  in  this  perhaps  differ 
from  most  men;  and  if  I  should  say  that  I  am 
in  anything  wiser  than  another,  it  would  be  in 
this,  that  not  having  a  competent  knowledge  of 
the  things  in  Plades,  I  also  think  that  I  have  not 
such  knowledge.  But  to  act  unjustly,  and  to 
disobey  my  superior,  whether  God  or  man,  I 
know  is  evil  and  base.  I  shall  never,  therefore, 
fear  or  shun  things  which,  for  aught  I  know, 
may  be  good,  before  evils  which  I  know  to  be 
evils.  So  that  even  if  you  should  now  dismiss 
me,  not  yielding  to  the  instances  of  Anytus,  who 
said  that  either  I  should  not  appear  here  at 
all,  or  that,  if  I  did  appear,  it  was  impossible 
not  to  put  me  to  death,  telling  you  that  if  I  es- 
caped, your  sons,  studying  what  Socrates  teaches, 
would  all  be  utterly  corrupted;  if  you  should  ad- 
dress me  thus,  "Socrates,  we  shall  not  now  yield 
to  Anytus,  but  dismiss  you,  on  this  condition, 
however,  that  you  no  longer  persevere  in  your 
researches  nor  study  philosophy,  and  if  here- 
after you  are  detected  in  so  doing,  you  shall  die, ' ' 
— if,  as  I  said,  you  should  dismiss  me  on  these 
terms,  I  should  say  to  you: 

'^0  Athenians,  I  honor  and  love  you;  but  I 
shall  obey  God  rather  than  you;  and  as  long 
as  I  breathe  and  am  able  I  shall  not  cease  study- 
ing philosophy  and  exhorting  you  and  warning 
68 


-    ':^^jf^^^:xi$x^-. 


S(XRA'ri:s 


so  CRATES 


any  one  of  you  I  may  happen  to  meet,  sayinr;:, 
as  I  have  been  accustomed  to  do :  '0  best  of  men, 
seeing  you  are  an  Athenian,  of  a  city  the  most 
powerful  and  most  renowned  for  wisdom  and 
strength,  are  you  not  ashamed  of  being  careful 
for  riches,  how  you  may  acquire  them  in  great- 
est abundance,  and  for  glory  and  honor,  but 
care  not  nor  take  any  thought  for  wisdom  and 
truth,  and  for  your  soul,  how  it  may  be  made 
most  perfect?'  " 

And  if  any  one  of  you  should  question  my 
assertion  and  affii-m  that  he  does  care  for  these 
things,  I  shall  not  at  once  let  him  go,  nor  depart, 
but  I  shall  question  him,  sift  and  prove  him. 
And  if  he  should  appear  to  me  not  to  possess 
virtue,  but  to  pretend  that  he  does,  I  shall  re- 
proach him  for  that  he  sets  the  least  value  on 
things  of  the  greatest  worth,  but  the  highest  on 
things  that  are  worthless. 

]\Iurmur  not,  0  Athenians,  but  continue  to  at- 
tend to  my  request,  not  to  murmur  at  what  I 
say,  but  to  listen,  for,  as  I  think,  you  will  de- 
rive benefit  from  listening.  For  I  am  going  to 
say  other  things  to  you,  at  which  perhaps  you 
will  raise  a  clamor;  but  on  no  account  do  so. 
Be  well  assured,  then,  if  you  put  me  to  death, 
being  such  a  man  as  I  say  I  am,  you  will  not 
injiifc  me  more  than  yourselves.  For  neither 
will  .Miletus  nor  Anylus  liar'm  me;  nor  have  they 
the  ]>ower;  for  I  do  not  think  that  it  is  possible 
for  a  bettci-  man  to  be  injur(>d  by  a  woi'se.  lie 
may  j)erliups  have  me  condemned  to  death,  or 
69 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

banished  or  deprived  of  civil  rights,  and  he  or 
others  may  perhaps  consider  these  as  mighty 
evils ;  I,  however,  do  not  consider  them  so,  but 
that  it  is  much  more  so  to  do  what  he  is  now  do- 
ing— to  endeavor  to  put  a  man  to  death  unjustly. 

Now,  therefore,  0  Athenians,  I  am  far  from 
making  a  defense  on  my  own  behalf,  as  any  one 
might  think,  but  I  do  so  on  your  behalf,  lest  by 
condemning  me  you  should  offend  at  all  with  re- 
spect to  the  gift  of  the  deity  to  you.  For,  if 
you  should  put  me  to  death,  you  will  not  easily 
find  such  another,  tho  it  may  be  ridiculous  to 
say  so,  altogether  attached  by  the  deity  to  this 
city  as  to  a  powerful  and  generous  horse,  some- 
what sluggish  from  his  size,  and  requiring  to  be 
roused  by  a  gad-fly;  so  the  deity  appears  to  have 
united  me,  being  such  a  person  as  I  am,  to  the 
city,  that  I  may  rouse  you,  and  persuade  and  re- 
prove every  one  of  you,  nor  ever  cease  besettiiig 
you  throughout  the  whole  day.  Such  anotiier 
nsaii,  0  Athenians,  will  not  easily  be  found; 
therefore,  if  you  will  take  my  advice,  you  will 
spare  me. 

But  3'ou,  perhaps,  being  irritated,  like  drowsy 
persons  who  are  roused  from  sleep,  will  strike 
me,  and,  yielding  to  Anytus,  will  unthinkingly 
condemn  me  to  death;  and  then  you  Avill  pass 
the  rest  of  your  life  in  sleep,  unless  the  deity, 
caring  for  you,  should  send  some  one  else  to 
you.  But  that  I  am  a  person  who  has  been  given 
by  the  deity  to  this  city,  you  may  discern  fi'om 
hence :   for   it  is  not  like  the  ordinary  con.luet 

70 


SOCRATES 


of  men  that  I  should  have  neglected  all  my  own 
affairs  and  suffered  my  private  interest  to  be 
neglected  for  so  many  years,  and  that  I  should 
constantly  attend  to  3'our  concerns,  addressing 
myself  to  each  of  you  separately,  like  a  father 
or  elder  brother,  persuading  you  to  the  pursuit 
of  virtue.  And  if  I  had  derived  any  profit  from 
this  course,  and  had  received  pay  for  my  ex- 
hortations, there  would  have  been  some  reason 
for  my  conduct :  but  now  you  see  yourselves  that 
my  accusers,  who  have  so  shamelessly  calumni- 
ated me  in  everything  else,  have  not  had  the 
impudence  to  charge  me  with  this,  and  to  briug 
>vitnesses  to  prove  that  I  ever  either  exacted  or 
demanded  any  reward.  And  I  think  I  produce 
a  sufficient  proof  that  I  speak  the  truth,  namely, 
my  poverty. 

Perhaps,  however,  it  may  appear  absurd,  that 
I,  going  about,  thus  advise  you  in  private  and 
make  myself  busy,  but  never  venture  to  present 
myself  in  public  before  your  assemblies  and  give 
advice  to  the  city.  The  cause  of  this  is  that 
which  you  have  often  and  in  many  places  heard 
me  mention :  because  I  am  moved  by  certain 
di\-iiK'  and  spiritual  influence,  which  also  I\Iile- 
tus,  thrmiuii  mockery,  has  set  out  in  the  indict- 
ment. 'ri:is  began  with  me  from  childhood,  be- 
ing a  kind  of  voice  which,  when  present,  always 
div'-i-1s  m<'  fi'om  what  I  am  about  to  do,  ])u. 
never  nrgi's  ine  on.  This  it  is  which  opposed 
my  meddling  in  publir-  politics:  and  it  appears 
to  me  to  ha\«>  o[>p')s<  d  !.:i'  V'  -.'y  prop.Tly.  For 
71 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

be  well  assured,  0  Athenians,  if  I  had  long  since 
attempted  to  intermeddle  with  politics,  I  should 
have  perished  long  ago,  and  should  not  have 
at  all  benefited  you  or  myself.  And  be  not 
angry  with  me  for  speaking  the  truth.  For  it 
is  not  possible  that  any  man  should  be  safe,  who 
sincerely  opposes  either  you  or  any  other  mul- 
titude, and  who  prevents  many  unjust  and  ille- 
gal actions  from  being  committed  in  a  city;  but 
it  is  necessary  that  he  who  in  earnest  contends 
for  justice,  if  he  will  be  safe  for  but  a  short 
time,  should  live  privately,  and  take  no  part  in 
public  affairs. 

Do  you  think,  then,  that  I  should  have  sur- 
vived so  many  years  if  I  had  engaged  in  public 
affairs,  and,  acting  as  becomes  a  good  man,  had 
aided  the  cause  of  justice,  and,  as  I  ought,  had 
deemed  this  of  the  highest  importance?  Par 
from  it,  0  Athenians :  nor  would  any  other  man 
have  done  so.  But  I,  through  the  whole  of  my 
life,  if  I  have  done  anything  in  public,  shall  be 
found  to  be  a  man,  and  the  very  same  in  pri- 
vate, who  has  never  made  a  concession  to  any 
one  contrary  to  justice,  neither  to  any  other,  nor 
to  any  one  of  these  whom  my  calumniators  say 
are  my  disciples.  I,  however,  was  never  the  pre- 
ceptor of  any  one ;  but  if  any  one  desired  to  hear 
me  speaking  and  to  see  me  busied  a])Out  my 
own  mission,  whether  he  were  young  or  old,  I 
never  refused  him.  Xor  do  I  discourse  when  I 
receive  money,  and  riot  when  I  do  not  receive 
any,  but  I  allow  both  rich  and  poor  alike  to  ques- 


SOCRATES 


tion  me,  and,  if  any  one  wishes  it,  to  answei-  me 
and  hear  what  I  have  to  say.  And  I'or  these, 
whether  any  one  proves  to  be  a  good  man  or 
not,  I  cannot  jnstly  be  resptjnsible,  because  I 
never  either  promised  them  any  instruction  nor 
taught  them  at  all.  But  if  any  one  says  that  he 
lias  ever  learned  or  heard  anything  Irom  me  in 
private,  which  all  others  have  not,  be  well  as- 
sni'ed  that  he  does  not  sj)eak  the  truth. 

But  wliy  do  some  delight  to  spend  so  long  a 
time  with  me?  Ye  have  heard,  0  Athenians.  I 
have  told  yon  the  whole  truth  that  they  delight 
to  hear  those  closely  questioned  who  think  that 
they  are  wise  but  are  not:  for  this  is  by  no  means 
disagreeable.  But  this  duty,  as  I  say,  has  been 
enjoined  me  by  the  deity,  ])y  oracles,  by  dreams, 
and  by  every  mode  by  which  any  other  divine 
decree  has  ever  enjoined  anything  to  man  to  do. 
These  things,  0  Athenians,  are  both  true,  and 
easily  confuted  if  not  true.  For  if  I  am  now 
corrupting  some  of  tlie  youths,  and  have  already 
corrupted  others,  it  were  fitting,  surely,  that  if 
any  of  them,  having  become  advanced  in  life, 
liad  discovered  that  1  gave  tliem  bad  advice  when 
they  were  young,  they  should  now  rise  wp  against 
mc,  accuse  me,  and  liavi;  use  iMUiislied ;  or  it' 
they  were  tliemsdvcs  un\villir!g  1o  do  Ihis,  some 
of  their  kindred,  their  fallu^rs,  or  l)roth(rs,  or 
other  7'ela1ives,  if  their  kinsmen  have  ever  sus- 
1ain<'d  any  damage  from  me,  should  now  call 
it  to  mind. 

.Many    of    them,    liowever,    are    liei-e    ])resenl, 

73 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

whom  I  see.  I  could  mention  many  to  you,  some 
one  of  whom  certainly  Miletus  ought  to  have  ad- 
duced in  his  speech  as  a  witness.  If,  however,  he 
then  forgot  to  do  so,  let  him  now  adduce  them,  I 
give  him  leave  to  do  so,  and  let  him  say  it,  if 
he  has  anything  of  the  kind  to  allege.  But  quite 
contrary  to  this,  you  will  find,  0  Athenians,  aJi 
ready  to  assist  me,  who  have  corrupted  and  in- 
jured their  relatives,  as  Miletus  and  Anytus  say. 
For  those  who  have  been  themselves  corrupted 
might  perhaps  have  son:e  reason  for  assistiirz- 
me ;  but  those  who  have  not  been  corrupted,  mea 
now  advanced  in  life,  tlioir  relatives,  what  otlicr 
reason  can  they  have  for  as.sisting  me,  exce])t 
that  right  and  just  one,  that  they  knoAV  that 
jMiletus  speaks  falsely  and  that  I  speak  the  truth. 
A¥ell  then,  xVthenians;  these  are  pretty  niaeh 
the  things  I  have  to  say  in  my  defense,  and  oth- 
ers perhaps  of  the  same  kind.  Perhaps,  how- 
ever, some  among  you  will  l)e  indignant  on  rec- 
ollecting his  own  case,  if  he,  when  engaged  in 
a  cause  far  less  than  this,  implored  and  besought 
the  judges  with  many  tears,  bringing  forward 
his  children  in  order  that  he  might  excite  their 
utmost  compassion,  and  many  others  of  his  rela- 
tives and  friends,  whereas  I  do  none  of  these 
things,  altho  I  may  appear  to  be  incurring  the 
extremity  of  danger.  Perhaps,  therefore,  some 
one,  taking  notice  of  this,  may  become  more  d'- 
termined  against  me,  and,  being  enraged  at  this 
very  conduct  of  mine,  may  give  his  vote  undi'i- 
the  influence  of  anger.  If  then  any  one  of  yoa 
74 


SOCRATES 


is  thus  affected — I  do  not,  hoAvever,  suppose  that 
there  is — but  if  there  should  be,  I  think  I  may 
rcasonablj'  say  to  him :  ' '  I  too,  0  best  of  men, 
have  relatives;  for  to  make  use  of  that  saying 
of  Homer,  I  am  not  sprung  from  an  oak,  nor 
from  a  rock,  but  from  men,  so  that  I  too,  0 
Athenians,  have  relatives,  and  three  sons,  one 
now  grown  up,  and  two  boys ;  I  shall  not,  how- 
ever, bring  any  one  of  them  forward  and  im- 
]>lore  you  to  acquit  me."  Why  then  shall  I  not 
do  this? 

Xut  from  contumacy,  0  Athenians,  nor  disre- 
spect toward  you.  Whether  or  not  T  am  un- 
daunted at  the  prospect  of  death,  is  another 
question,  but  out  of  regard  to  my  own  character, 
and  yours,  and  that  of  the  whole  city,  it  does 
not  appear  to  me  to  be  honorable  that  I  should 
do  onything  of  this  kind  at  my  age,  and  with 
the  reputation  I  have,  whetlier  true  or  false. 
For  it  is  commonly  agreed  that  Socrates  in  some 
respects  excels  tlie  generality  of  men.  If,  then, 
those  among  you  who  appear  to  excel  either  in 
wisdom,  or  fortitude,  or  any  other  virtue  what- 
soever, should  act  in  such  a  manner  as  I  have 
often  seen  so;ne  when  they  have  been  brought  to 
trial,  it  would  be  shameful,  who,  appearing  in- 
deed to  be  something,  have  conducted  themselves 
in  a  surprising  manner,  as  thinldng  they  should 
suffm-  something  dreadful  by  dying,  and  as  if 
they  would  be  immortal  if  you  did  put  them  to 
death.  Such  men  appejir-  to  me  to  bring  dis- 
grace on   the  cit\\   so   <!;at   imv   stranger  might 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

suppose  that  such  of  the  Athenians  as  excel  in 
virtue,  and  whom  they  themselves  choose  in 
preference  to  themselves  for  magistracies  and 
other  honors,  are  in  no  respect  superior  to 
women. 

For  these  things,  0  Athenians,  neither  ought 
we  to  do  who  have  attained  to  any  height  of 
reputation,  nor,  should  we  do  them,  ought  you 
to  suffer  us ;  but  you  should  make  this  manifest, 
that  you  will  much  rather  condemn  him  who 
introduces  these  piteous  dramas,  and  makes  the 
city  ridiculous,  than  him  who  quietly  awaits 
your  decision. 

But  reputation  apart,  0  Athenians,  it  does 
not  appear  to  me  to  be  right  to  entreat  a  judge, 
or  to  escape  by  entreaty,  but  one  ought  to  inform 
and  persuade  him.  For  a  judge  does  not  sit 
for  the  purpose  of  administering  justice  out  of 
favor,  but  that  he  may  judge  rightly,  and  he 
is  sworn  not  to  show  favor  to  whom  he  pleases, 
hut  that  he  will  decide  according  to  the  laws. 
It  is  therefore  right  that  neither  should  we  ac- 
custom you,  nor  should  you  accustom  yourselves 
to  violate  your  oaths;  for  in  so  doing  neither  of 
us  would  act  righteously. 

Think  not  then,  0  Athenians,  that  I  ought  to 
adopt  such  a  course  toward  you  as  I  neither  con- 
sider honorable,  nor  just,  nor  holy,  as  well,  by 
Jupiter,  on  any  other  occasion,  and  now  espe- 
cially when  I  am  accused  of  impiety  by  this 
Miletus.  For  clearly,  if  I  should  persuade  you, 
and  by  my  entreaties  should  put  a  constraint 
76 


J 


SOCRATES 


on  you  who  are  bound  by  an  oath,  I  should  teach 
you  to  think  that  there  are  no  gods,  and  iu 
reality,  while  making  my  defense,  should  accuse 
myself  of  not  believing  in  the  gods.  This,  how- 
ever, is  far  from  being  the  ease :  for  I  believe, 
0  Athenians,  as  none  of  my  accusers  do,  and  I 
leave  it  to  you  and  to  the  deity  to  judge  concern- 
ing me  in  such  way  as  will  be  best  both  for  me 
and  for  you. 


II 


ON   BEING   DECLARED    GUILTY* 

(399  B.C.) 

That  I  should  not  be  grieved,  0  Athenians,  at 
what  has  ha])pened,  namely,  that  you  have  con- 
demned me,  as  well  as  many  other  circumstance.5 
concur  in  bringing  to  pass,  and  moreover  this, 
that  what  has  happened  has  not  hapi)ened  con- 
tfai-y  to  my  expectations;  but  I  nmch  rather 
wonder  at  the  number  of  votes  on  either  side. 
For  I  did  not  expect  that  I  should  be  condemned 
by  so  small  a  number,  but  by  a  large  majority; 
but  now,  as  it  seems,  if  only  three  more  votes 
liad  changed  sides  I  should  have  been  accpiitted. 
As  far  as  Miletus  is  concerned,  as  it  ai)pears  to 

'  After  a  majority  of  voices  had  declared  him  p^uiUy,  Socrates 
resumed  his  address  as  reported  by  Plato  iu  the  "  Apology." 

77 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

me,  I  have  been  already  acquitted,  and  not  only 
have  I  been  acquitted,  but  it  is  clear  to  every 
one  that  had  not  Anytus  and  Lycon  come  for- 
v>  ard  to  accuse  me,  he  would  have  been  fined  a 
thousand  drachmas,  for  not  having  obtained  a 
fifth  part  of  the  votes. 

The  man  then  awards  me  the  penalty  of  death. 
"Well.  But  what  shall  I,  on  my  part,  0  Athe- 
nians, award  myself?  Is  it  not  elt»ar  that  it 
will  be  such  as  I  deserve?  Wliat  then  is  that? 
Do  I  deserve  to  sufi'er  or  to  pay  a  fine,  for  that 
I  have  purposely  during  my  life  not  remained 
quiet,  but,  neglecting  what  most  miCn  seek  after, 
— money-making,  domestic  concerns,  military 
command,  popular  oratory,  aiul  moreover  all 
the  magistracies,  conspiracies  and  cabals  that  are 
met  with  in  the  city, — thinking  that  I  was  in 
reality  too  upright  a  man  to  be  safe  if  I  took 
part  in  such  things,  I  therefore  did  not  apply 
myself  to  those  pursuits,  by  attending  to  which 
I  should  have  been  of  no  service  either  to  you 
or  to  myself ;  but  in  order  to  confer  the  greatest 
benefit  on  each  of  you  privately,  as  I  alHrm,  I 
thereupon  applied  myself  to  that  object,  endeav- 
oring to  persuade  every  one  of  you  not  to  take 
any  care  of  his  own  affairs,  before  he  had  taken 
car(,'  ot  himself,  in  v,  Juit  v,  ay  hi-  n«ay  bccuii;e  tlie 
best  and  wisest,  i;or  of  tli.:'  affairs  of  the  city  be- 
fore he  took  care  of  the  city  itself,  and  that  he 
should  attend  to  other  things  in  the  same  manner. 

What  treatment  then  do  1  deserve,  seeing  I 
am  such  a  man?  Some  reward,  0  Athenians,  if 
78 


SOCRATES 


at  least  I  am  to  be  estimated  aeeordiup:  to  my 
real  deserts :  and  moreover  such  a  reward  as 
would  be  suitable  to  me.  What  then  is  suitable 
to  a  poor  man,  a  benefactor,  and  who  has  need 
of  leisure  in  order  to  give  you  good  advice? 
There  is  nothing  so  suitable,  0  Athenians,  as  that 
such  a  man  should  be  maintained  in  the  Pryta- 
neum.  and  this  much  more  than  if  one  of  you 
had  been  victorious  at  the  Olympic  games  in  a 
horse  rai^e,  or  in  the  two  or  four-horsed  chariot 
race :  for  such  a  one  makes  you  appear  to  be 
happy,  but  L  to  be  so :  and  he  does  not  need 
support,  but  I  do.  If,  therefore,  I  must  award 
a  s-nlenee  according  to  my  just  deserts,  I  award 
this.  I!  aintonance  in  the  Prytaneum. 

i^M■l;a])s,  however,  in  spealdng  to  you  thus,  I 
appear  to  you  to  speak  in  the  same  presumptuous 
man;]in'  as  I  did  respecting  commiseration  and 
entrcati''s :  ])ut  such  is  n(^t  the  case,  O  Athe- 
nians, it  is  rather  this.  I  am  persuaded  that  I 
never  designedly  injured  any  num,  tho  I  can  not 
persuade  you  of  this,  for  we  have  convei'sed  with 
each  other  but  for  a  short  time.  For  if  there 
was  the  same  law  with  you  as  with  other  men, 
that  in  caf^ital  cases  the  tivial  should  last  not 
only  on(;  da}-  Imt  many,  I  think  you  would  be 
persuaded:  but  it  is  not  (^asy  in  a  short  time  to 
do  a"''ay  v.  itli  u'l'^at  calumnies. 

Bei'ig  pcr-iiad  'd  then  that  I  have  injured  no 

oi](\  I  a.'ii   1'ai"  {'j'o:[i  intending  to  injure  myself, 

and   oj'    [>ro!:o;iii:-i!i'.r   au^ainst    myself   that    J    am 

d'-servim:   ol"    punish;i;i':ir,    and    from    awarding 

71) 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

myself  anything  of  the  kind.  Through  fear  of 
what?  lest  I  should  suffer  that  which  Miletus 
awards  me,  of  which  I  say  I  know  not  whether 
it  be  good  or  evil?  instead  of  this,  shall  I  choose 
what  I  well  know  to  be  evil,  and  award  that? 
Shall  I  choose  imprisonment?  And  why  should 
I  live  in  prison,  a  slave  to  the  established  mag- 
istracy, the  Eleven?  Shall  1  choose  a  fine,  and 
to  be  imprisoned  until  I  have  paid  it?  But  this 
is  the  same  as  that  which  I  just  now  mentioned, 
for  I  have  not  money  to  pay  it.  Shall  I  then 
award  myself  exile?  For  perhaps  you  would 
consent  to  this  award.  I  should  indeed  be  very 
fond  of  life,  0  Athenians,  if  I  were  so  devoid  of 
reason  as  not  to  be  able  to  reflect  that  you,  w^ho 
are  my  fellow  citizens,  have  been  unable  to  en- 
dure my  manner  of  life  and  discourses,  but  they 
have  become  so  burdensome  and  odious  to  you, 
that  you  now  seek  to  be  rid  of  them;  othex's, 
however,  will  easily  bear  them ;  far  from  it,  0 
Athenians.  A  fine  life  it  would  be  for  me  at 
my  age  to  go  out  wandering  and  driven  from 
city  to  city,  and  so  to  live.  For  I  well  know 
that,  wherever  I  may  go,  the  youth  will  listen 
to  me  when  I  speak,  as  they  do  here.  And  if 
I  repulse  them  they  will  themselves  drive  me 
out,  persuading  the  elders;  and  if  I  do  not  re- 
pulse them,  their  fathers  and  kindred  will  ban- 
ish me  on  their  account. 

Perhaps,  however,  some  one  will  say,  Can  you 
not,  Socrates,  when  you  have  gone  from  us,  live 
a  silent  and  quiet  life?     This  is  the  most  dififi- 
80 


S  O  CRATES 


cult  thins:  of  all  to  persuade  some  of  you.  For 
if  I  say  that  that  would  be  to  disohey  the  deity, 
and  that  therefore  it  is  impossible  for  me  to 
live  quietly,  you  would  not  believe  me,  thinking 
I  spoke  ironically.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  I 
say  that  this  is  the  s'l'^'^it'-'^t  g'ood  to  num,  to  dis- 
course daily  on  vii-tue,  and  other  thinjics  which 
you  have  lu^ard  me  discussin.tr.  examining  both 
myself  and  others,  but  that  a  life  without  inves- 
tigation  is  not  worth  living-  for,  still  less  would 
you  believe  me  if  I  said  this.  Such,  however,  is 
the  case,  as  I  affirm,  O  Athenians,  tho  it  is  not 
easy  to  persuade  you.  And  at  the  same  time  I 
am  not  accustomed  to  think  myself  deserving  of 
any  ill. 

If,  indeed  I  were  rich,  I  would  amerce  myself 
in  such  a  sum  as  I  should  be  able  to  pay;  for 
then  I  should  have  suti'iu'cd  no  harm,  but  now — - 
for  I  can  not,  unless  you  are  willing  to  amerce 
me  in  such  a  sum  as  I  am  able  to  pay.  But  per- 
haps I  could  pay  you  a  mina  of  silver;  in  that 
sum  then  I  amerce  myself.  But  Plato  here,  0 
Athenians,  and  Crito,  Critobulus,  and  Apollo- 
d'trus  bid  me  amerce  myself  in  thirty  mina',  and 
they  ofi'er  to  be  sureties.  I  amerce  myself  then 
to  you  in  that  sum ;  and  they  will  be  sufficient 
sureties  for  the  money. 


81 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

in 

ON  BEING  CONDEMNED  TO  DEATH  ^ 

(399  B.C.) 

For  the  sake  of  no  long  space  of  time,  0  Athe- 
nians, you  will  incur  the  character  and  reproach 
at  the  hands  of  those  who  wish  to  defame  the 
city,  of  having  put  that  wise  man,  Socrates,  to 
death.  For  those  who  wish  to  defame  you  will 
assert  that  I  am  wise,  tho  I  am  not.  If,  then, 
you  had  waited  for  a  short  time,  this  would  have 
happened  of  its  own  accord ;  for  observe  my  age, 
that  it  is  far  advanced  in  life,  and  near  death. 
But  I  say  this  not  to  you  all,  but  to  those  only 
who  have  condemned  mc  to  die.  And  I  say  this 
too  to  the  same  persons.  Perhaps  you  think,  0 
Athenians,  tliat  I  have  been  convicted  through 
the  vv'ant  of  arguments,  by  which  I  might  have 
peivsuadcd  you,  had  I  thought  it  right  to  do  and 
say  anything  so  that  I  might  escape  punishment. 
Far  otlierwise:  I  have  been  convicted  through 
wai:t  indeed,  yet  not  of  arguments,  but  of  audac- 
ity a; id  impudence,  and  of  the  inclination  to 
say  such  things  to  you  as  would  have  been  most 
agreeable  for  you  to  hear,  had  I  lamented  and 
bewailed  and  done  and  said  many  other  things 
unworthy  of  ir.e,  as  I  aftirm,  but  such  as  you 
are  accustomed  to  hear  from  others. 

'  When  the  judges  had  passed  sentence    condemning    him   te 
death,  Socrat«s  concluded  his  spt'ech  as  liere  given, 

82 


SOCRATES 


But  neither  did  I  then  think  that  I  ougrht,  for 
the  sake  of  avoiding  danger,  to  do  anything  un- 
worthy of  a  freeman,  nor  do  I  now  repent  of 
having  so  defended  myself;  but  I  should  much 
rather  choose  to  die  having  so  defended  myself 
than  to  live  in  that  way.  For  neither  in  a  trial 
nor  in  battle  is  it  riglit  that  I  or  any  one  else 
should  employ  every  possible  means  whereby  he 
may  avoid  death ;  for  in  battle  it  is  frequently 
evident  that  a  man  might  escape  death  by  lay- 
ing down  his  arms  and  throwing  himself  on  the 
mercy  of  his  pursuers.  And  th(^re  are  many 
other  devices  in  every  danger,  by  which  to  avoid 
death,  if  a  man  dares  to  do  and  say  everything. 

l>ut  this  is  not  difficult,  0  Athenians,  to  escape 
death,  but  it  is  much  more  difficult  to  avoid  de- 
pravity, for  it  runs  swifter  than  death.  And 
now  I,  being  slow  and  aged,  am  overtaken  by  the 
slower  of  the  two ;  but  my  accusers,  being  strong 
and  active,  have  been  overtaken  by  the  swifter, 
wickedness.  And  now  I  depart,  condemned  by 
you  to  death ;  but  they  condemned  by  truth,  as 
guilty  of  iniquity  and  injustice:  and  I  abide  my 
sentence  and  so  do  they.  These  things,  perhaps, 
ought  so  to  ])e,  and  T  think  that  they  are  for 
tlie  best. 

In  the  next  ])lace,  I  desii'e  to  predict  to  you 
who  have  condemned  me,  \vliat  will  be  your  fate: 
for  r  am  now  in  that  condition  in  which  men 
most  freciuently  prophesy,  namel>',  when  they 
arc  al)out  to  die.  1  say  then  to  you,  0  Athenians, 
who  have  condemned  inc  1o  dcnith.  that  immedi- 


83 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

ately  after  iny  death  a  punishinent  will  overtake 
you,  far  more  severe,  by  Jupiter,  than  that  whicli 
you  have  inflicted  on  me.  For  you  have  done 
this  thinking  you  should  be  freed  from  the  ne- 
cessity of  giving  an  account  of  your  life.  The 
very  cojitrary  however,  as  I  affirm,  will  happen 
to  you.  Your  accusers  will  be  more  numerous, 
whom  I  have  riow  restrained,  tho  you  did  not 
perceive  it;  and  they  will  be  more  severe,  inas- 
much as  they  are  younger  and  you  will  be  more 
indignant.  For,  if  you  think  that  by  putting 
men  to  death  you  will  restrain  any  one  from 
upbraiding  you  because  you  do  not  live  well, 
you  are  much  mistaken ;  i'or  this  method  of  es- 
cape is  neither  possible  nor  honorable,  but  that 
other  is  most  honorable  and  most  easy,  not  to 
put  a  check  u]^on  others,  but  for  a  man  to  take 
heed  to  himself,  how  he  may  be  most  perfect. 
Having  predicted  thus  riiiich  to  those  of  you  who 
have  condemned  me,  I  take  my  leave  of  you. 

But  with  you  who  have  voted  for  my  acquittal, 
I  would  gladly  hold  converse  on  what  has  now 
taken  place,  while  the  magistrates  are  busy  and 
I  am  not  yet  carried  to  the  place  where  I  must 
die.  Stay  vrith  me  then,  so  long,  0  Athenians, 
for  nothing  h aiders  our  conversing  vrith  each 
other,  whilst  we  are  permitted  to  do  so :  for  I 
wish  to  make  known  to  you,  as  being  my  friends, 
the  meaning  of  that  which  has  just  now  befallen 
me.  To  me  then,  0  my  judges, — and  in  calling 
you  judges  T  call  you  rightly. — a  strange  thing 
has  liappened.  For  lh('  wonti'd  prophetic  voice 
84 


SOCRATES 


of  my  guardian  deity,  on  every  foruu>r  occasion, 
even  in  the  most  li'iiling  affairs,  opposed  me.  if 
I  was  about  to  do  anything  wrong;  but  now,  that 
has  befallen  me  which  ye  youi'selves  behokl,  and 
which  any  one  would  think  and  which  is  sup- 
]X)sed  to  be  the  extremity  of  evil,  yet  neither 
\\hen  I  departed  from  home  in  the  morning  did 
the  warning  of  the  god  oppose  me,  nor  when  I 
came  up  hei'c  to  the  place  of  trial,  nor  in  my 
address  when  I  was  about  to  say  anything;  yet 
on  other  occasions  it  has  frecpiently  restrained 
me  in  the  midst  of  speaking.  But  now  it  has  never 
throughout  this  proceeding  oj^posed  me,  either 
in  what  I  did  or  said.  Wliat  then  do  I  suppose 
to  be  the  cause  of  this?  I  will  tell  yon:  what 
has  befallen  n^c  appears  to  be  a  blessing;  and  it 
is  impossible  that  we  think  rightly  who  suppose 
that  death  is  an  evil.  A  great  ])roof  of  this  to 
me  is  the  fact  that  it  is  impossible  but  that  the 
accustomed  signal  should  have  opposed  me,  un- 
less I  had  been  about  to  meet  Avith  some  good. 

]\Ioreover,  we  may  hence  conclude  that  there 
is  great  hope  that  death  is  a  blessing.  For  to 
die  is  one  of  two  things:  for  either  the  dead  may 
be  annihilated  and  have  no  sensation  of  any- 
thing whatever;  or,  as  it  is  said,  there  is  a  cer- 
tain change  and  passage  of  the  sonl  from  one; 
plac"  to  another.  And  if  it  is  a  privation  of  all 
sensation,  as  it  were,  a  sleep  in  which  the  sleeper 
has  no  dr(\'un,  death  Avould  be  a  wonderful  gain. 
Vov  I  think  that  if  anyone,  having  sehM^ed  a 
night  in  which  he  slept  so  soundly  as  not  to  have 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

had  a  di'eanj,  and  having  c(,)iiii)ared  this  night 
with  all  the  other  nights  and  days  of  his  life, 
should  be  required  on  consideration  to  say  how 
many  days  and  nights  he  had  passed  better  and 
more  pleasantly  than  this  night  throughout  his 
life,  I  think  that  not  only  a  private  person,  but 
even  a  great  king  hin;self  would  find  them  easy 
to  number  in  comparison  with  other  days  and 
nights.  If,  therefore,  death  is  a  thing  of  this 
kind,  I  say  it  is  a  gain ;  for  thus  all  futurity  ap- 
pears to  be  nothing  more  than  one  night. 

But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  death  is  a  removal 
from  hence  to  another  place,  and  what  is  said 
be  true,  that  all  the  dead  are  there,  what  greater 
blessing  can  there  be  than  this,  m.y  judges?  For 
i[',  on  arriving  at  Hades,  released  from  these  who 
]^retend  to  be  judges,  one  shall  find  those  who 
nve  true  judges,  and  who  are  said  to  judge  there, 
^linos  and  Rhadamanthus,  .Eacus  and  Tripto- 
l'_"i!;us.  and  such  others  of  the  demigods  as  were 
ju.st  during  their  own  life,  would  this  be  a  sad 
I'onoval  ?  At  what  price  would  you  not  esti- 
Hiate  a  conference  with  Orpheus  and  Musteus, 
Ilesiod  aiid  Iloriier?  1  indeed  should  be  willing 
to  dit'  often,  if  this  be  true.  For  to  me  the  so- 
journ there  A\ou!d  be  admirable,  when  I  should 
1!  eet  v.-ith  l^alamedcs,  and  Ajax  son  of  Tela- 
rnon.  ai:d  any  other  of  the  ancients  who  has  dic-d 
by  an  unjust  sentence.  The  compai'ing  my  suf- 
I'ci'ings  with  theirs  would,  I  think,  be  no  unpleas- 
ing  oc<-upation. 

But  the  great*'st  i)!'-asure  would  be  to  spend 

86 


SOCRATES 


my  time  in  questionijic:  and  oxaniininti'  the  peo- 
ple there  as  I  have  done  those  here,  and  discov- 
ering who  among  them  is  wise,  and  who  fancies 
himself  to  be  so  but  is  not.  At  what  j)rice,  my 
judges,  would  not  any  one  estimate  the  oppor- 
tunity of  (|uestioning  him  who  led  that  mighty 
army  against  Troy,  or  Ulysses,  or  Sisyphus,  or 
ten  thousand  others,  whom  one  might  mention, 
botli  men  and  women?  with  wlio:u  to  converse 
and  as-,oeiate,  and  to  question  them,  vrould  be  an 
inconcfivable  happiness.  Surely  for  that  the 
judu'es  there  do  not  condemn  to  death ;  for  in 
other  respects  tlio-e  who  live  thei'e  are  more 
hajipy  than  those  that  are  here,  and  are  hence- 
forth immortal,  if  at  least  what  is  said  be  true. 

You,  therefore,  0  my  judges,  ought  to  enter- 
tain good  hopes  with  respect  to  death,  and  to 
meditate  on  this  one  truth,  that  1o  a  good  man 
nothing  is  evil,  neither  while  ]ivi;ig  nor  when 
dead,  nor  are  his  concerns  neglected  by  the  gods. 
And  what  has  befallen  me  is  not  tlie  effect  of 
chance';  but  this  is  clear  to  me,  that  now  to  die, 
and  ho  freed  fi'om  my  cares,  is  better  for  me. 
On  this  account  the  warning  in  no  way  turned 
me  aside;  and  I  bear  no  resentiueiit  tou'ard 
those  Vv'ho  condemned  me,  or  a^'ainst  my  accu- 
sers, altlio  they  did  not  condeuui  and  accuse  me 
with  this  intention,  but  tliinking  to  injure  me: 
in  this  they  dcsei've  to  ])e  blamed. 

Thus  much,  however,  I  beg  of  1he7ti.  Punish 
my  sons,  wh('n  they  grow  up,  ()  jiulges,  j)aining 
them  as  I   have  paim;d  you,  if  they  appear  to 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

you  to  care  for  riches  or  anything  else  before 
virtue,  and  if  they  think  themselves  to  be  some- 
thing when  they  are  nothing,  reproach  them  as 
I  have  done  you,  for  not  attending  to  what  they 
ought,  and  for  conceiving  themselves  to  be  some- 
thing when  they  are  worth  nothing.  If  ye  do 
this,  both  I  and  my  sons  shall  have  met  with 
just  treatment  at  your  hands. 

But  it  is  now  time  to  depart, — for  me  to  die, 
for  you  to  live.  But  which  of  us  is  going  to  a 
better  state  is  unknown  to  every  one  but  God. 


88 


ISOCRATES 

ON   THE   UNION   OF   GREECE  TO   RESIST 
PERSIA  ' 

(380  B.C.) 

Born  in  43G  B.C.,  and  died  in  338;  lived  from  the  age  of  Pericles  to 

that  of  Alexander;    his  teachings  as  to  style    inlluenced    Plat). 

Demosthenes,  and  Cicero;  usually  classed  as  one  of  the  teu  Attic 

orators,  but  more  properly  a  publicist. 

It  is  confessed  indeed  that  our  state  is  the  most 
ancient  and  the  greatest,  and  the  most  celebrated 
among  all  men;  and  the  foundation  being  thus 
glorious,  on  account  of  what  follows  these  it  is 
still  more  befitting  that  we  should  be  honored. 
For  we  inhabit  this  city,  not  having  expelled  oth- 
ers, nor  having  found  it  d(>serted,  nor  collected 
promiscuously  from  many  nations,  l)ut  we  are  of 
such  honorable  and  genuine  birth  lh;it  we  con- 
tinue for  all  time  possessing  this  land  from 
wliich  we  were  l)'.)rn,  being  sprinig  from  the  soil, 
and  l)eing  able  to  call  our  cily  by  the  snine  naitH'S 
as  our  neart'st  relations,  luv  v,e  jiloiie  of  all  tlie 
(iriM-ks  have  a  riuht  to  c;;ll  the  snnic — nurse  and 
fatherland  and  mother.     And  yet  it  is  right  that 

'  '■■upposH,!  to  liave  hee  i  first  pnbliOicl  at  Oiyniiila  riS:>  B.;".,  and 
h:-i-M  alM-idKcd.  ir  ha«  hcen  poiiiled  <:!it.  l!:ar,  while  i!i,>  <■:  ii.iiu-.t  uf 
A  la  by  Alexa.iiili;r  was  not  due  to  a  imii  n  of  A  t  iiens  aiul  Sriatta, 
t!  .1  achi-'.'"P!  'lit.  ill  s..ir.('  oilier  '.-. /lys,  \v:is  a  Jiistilie;;Uon  <if  Ihe 
I'aii;  adv.icati- n.y  Isc. Tales.  Trai-slatel  by  llev.  James  i;i<'e. 
I  lie  \M-iiiiiL'-  ajid  levi-iu;^  of  iliis  M-^r!;  arr  saiii  to  have  been  exteiid- 
C'l  liy  Isocrates  over  a  period  of  ti'ii  years. 

Si; 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

those  who  with  good  reason  entertain  high 
thoughts,  and  who  justly  dispute  the  supremacy 
and  who  often  make  mention  of  their  hereditary 
rights,  should  prove  the  origin  of  their  race  to 
be  of  this  nature. 

The  advantages,  then,  which  we  possessed 
from  the  beginning,  and  which  were  bestowed 
upon  us  by  fortune,  are  so  great  in  magnitude; 
but  of  how  great  advantages  we  have  been  the 
cause  to  the  rest  we  should  thus  best  investigate, 
if  we  should  go  through  in  detail  the  time  from 
the  commencement,  and  the  exploits  of  the  State 
in  succession ;  for  we  shall  find  that  she  not  only 
[delivered  us]  from  the  dangers  in  respect  of 
war,  but  also  is  the  cause  of  that  established  order 
besides  in  which  we  dwell  and  with  which  we  live 
as  free  citizens,  and  by  means  of  which  we  are 
able  to  live. 

Of  the  wars,  indeed,  the  Persian  was  the  most 
famous;  the  old  achievements,  however,  are  not 
less  strong  proofs  for  those  who  dispute  about 
hereditary  institutions.  For  when  Greece  was 
still  in  a  lowly  condition,  the  Thracians  indeed 
came  to  our  land  with  Eumolpus  the  son  of 
Poseidon,  and  the  Scythians  with  the  Amazons 
the  daughters  of  Mars,  not  at  the  same  time,  but 
at  the  time  when  each  of  them  were  rulers  of 
Europe,  hating,  indeed,  the  whole  race  of  the 
Greeks,  but  making  charges  against  us  sepa- 
rately, thinking  that  by  this  line  of  conduct  they 
would  incur  danger  against  one  state  indeed,  but 
would  at  the  same  time  conquer  all. 
90 


ISOCRATES 


They  did  not,  however,  succeed,  but  having 
engaged  with  our  ancestors  separately,  they  were 
destroyed  equally  as  if  they  had  made  war  on  all 
together.  And  the  magnitude  of  the  evils  which 
befel  them  is  manifest,  for  the  speeches  concern- 
ing them  would  never  have  lived  on  for  so  long 
a  time  had  not  also  their  achievements  far  ex- 
celled those  of  other  men.  It  is  recorded,  then, 
concerning  the  Amazons,  that  not  one  of  those 
who  came  went  back  again,  while  those  who  were 
left  at  home  were  driven  out  of  their  government 
on  account  of  their  calamity  here ;  and  concern- 
ing the  Thracians,  [it  is  said]  that  altho  during 
the  former  times  they  dwelt  beside  us,  on  our 
borders,  yet  on  account  of  that  expedition  they 
left  so  great  an  intervening  space,  that  in  the 
district  between  us,  many  nations  and  all  kinds 
of  races  and  great  cities  have  been  established. 

Glorious  indeed,  then,  are  these  things,  and  be- 
fitting those  who  dispute  for  the  supremacy,  but 
akin  to  what  has  been  said,  and  such  as  it  is  natu- 
ral that  those  sprung  from  such  men  would  per- 
form, were  the  exploits  of  those  who  waged  war 
against  Darius  and  Xerxes. 

Always  indeed,  then,  both  our  ancestors  and 
thf  LacediEmonians  acted  in  a  spirit  of  rivalry  to 
each  other.  Not  but  what  in  those  times  they 
contended  for  the  most  glorious  objects,  not 
thinking  each  other  to  be  enemies,  but  rivals,  not 
paying  court  to  the  foreigner  with  a  view  to  the 
slavery  of  the  Creeks,  but  being  of  one  mind 
about  the  common  safety,  and  engaging  in  a  cou- 

91 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

test  as  to  this,  viz.,  which  of  the  two  shall  be  the 
authors  of  it.  And  they  displayed  their  valor 
first,  indeed,  in  the  case  of  those  sent  by  Darius. 
For  when  these  had  landed  in  Attica,  the  one 
did  not  wait  for  their  allies,  but  making  what 
was  a  common  war  a  personal  one,  they  went  out 
to  meet  those  who  had  treated  contemptuously 
the  whole  of  Hellas  with  their  private  force,  a 
few  against  many  myriads,  as  if  about  to  brave 
the  danger  in  the  case  of  the  lives  of  others, 
while  the  others  no  sooner  heard  of  the  war 
being  in  Attica  than,  neglecting  everything  else 
they  came  to  assist  us,  making  as  great  haste  as  if 
it  was  their  own  country  which  was  being  rav- 
aged. 

And  after  these  things,  when  the  subsequent 
expedition  took  place,  which  Xerxes  led  in  per- 
son, after  abandoning  his  palace  and  underta- 
king to  become  a  general,  and  having  collected  all 
the  men  from  Asia ;  and  who,  being  anxious  not 
to  speak  in  extravagant  terms,  has  spoken  about 
liim  in  language  which  fell  short  of  the  reality? 
— a  man>  who  reached  such  a  height  of  arro- 
gance, that  considering  it  to  be  a  trifling  achieve- 
ment to  subdue  Greece,  and  wishing  to  leave  be- 
hind such  a  monument  as  surpasses  human  na- 
ture, ceased  not  until  he  had  devised  and  at  the 
same  time  carried  out  by  compulsion  that  which 
all  talk  of,  so  that  wdth  his  armament  he  sailed 
through  the  mainland  and  marched  over  the  sea, 
having  bridged  over  the  Ilellespont  and  dug  a 
canal  through  Ath-os.  Against  him,  indeed,  ha\ 
92 


ISOCRATES 


ing  such  high  thoughts,  and  having  succeeded  in 
accomplishing  such  great  deeds  and  having  be- 
come the  lord  of  so  iiany,  they  went  forth,  hav- 
ing divided  amongst  themselves  the  danger,  the 
Lacedaemonians  indeed  to  Thermopylae  against 
the  land  force,  having  selected  a  thousand  of 
themselves,  and  taking  along  with  them  a  few  of 
their  allies  with  the  intention  of  preventing  them 
in  the  narrow  pass  from  advancing  fartlier, 
while  our  fathers  [went  out]  to  Artemisium, 
having  manned  sixty  triremes  to  meet  the  whole 
naval  force  of  the  enemy.  And  they  had  the 
courage  to  do  these  things,  not  so  much  through 
contempt  of  the  enemy  as  from  a  spirit  of  rivalry 
with  each  other,  the  Lacedaemonians  indeed  en- 
vying our  state,  for  the  battle  at  ^larathon,  and 
seeking  to  put  themselves  on  an  equality  with  us, 
and  fearing  lest  our  state  should  twice  in  succes- 
sion become  the  author  of  deliverance  to  the 
Greeks,  and  our  fathers  wishing  chietly  indeed 
to  retain  their  present  glory  and  to  make  it  mani- 
fest to  all  that  both  in  the  former  case  it  was 
through  valor  and  not  thronuh  fortune  that  they 
had  con([uered;  in  the  next  phu-c  also  to  iiuluee 
the  (Jreeks  to  maintain  a  sea-fight  by  showin;;' 
to  them  that  valor  gets  the  better  of  numbers  in 
naval  dangers  and  enterprises  equally  as  in  those 
by  land. 

And  to  the  king  (of  Asia),  indeed,  in  i:i'i"'  ''.-• 

more  important  than  to  consider-  by  wb.it  tiM';i:i: 

W(e  shall  never  cf^asi^  warring  against  one  jiiiMtii,  ;•. 

while  we  are  so  far  from  bringing  any  oT   c;-: 

93 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

interests  into  collision  or  causing  them  to  be  dis- 
tricted by  factions,  that  we  even  endeavor  to 
assist  in  putting  an  end  to  the  troubles  which 
have  befallen  him  through  fortune ;  since  we  also 
allow  him  to  make  use  of  one  of  the  two  arma- 
ments in  Cyprus,  and  to  blockade  the  other,  tho 
both  of  them  belong  to  Hellas.  For  both  those 
who  have  revolted  are  friendly  disposed  towards 
us  and  give  themselves  up  to  the  Lacedemonians, 
and  the  most  useful  part  of  those  who  are  serv- 
ing with  Tiribazus  and  of  the  land  army  have 
been  collected  from  these  districts,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  navy  has  sailed  along  with 
them  from  Ionia,  who  w^ould  much  more  gladly 
have  ravaged  Asia  in  concert  than,  have  fought 
against  one  another  on  account  of  trifles.  Of 
these  things  we  take  no  thought,  but  we  are  dis- 
puting about  the  islands  of  the  Cyclades,  and 
thus  heedlessly  have  we  surrendered  to  the  for- 
eign foe  cities  so  many  in  number  and  so  great 
in  magnitude.  Therefore,  he  is  in  possession  of 
some,  and  is  on  the  point  of  [taking  possession 
of]  others,  and  is  plotting  against  others,  having 
desi^ised  all  of  us,  and  with  good  reason.  For  he 
has  effected  what  no  one  of  his  ancestors  ever 
did ;  for  it  has  been  agreed  on,  both  by  us  and  by 
the  Lacedaemonians,  that  Asia  belongs  to  the 
king,  and  he  has  taken  possession  of  the  Grecian 
cities  with  such  authority  as  to  raze  some  of  them 
to  the  ground,  and  in  others  to  fortify  citadels. 
And  all  these  things  have  happened  through  our 
folly  and  not  on  account  of  his  power. 

94 


ISOCRATES 


Our  citizens  are  at  this  time  reconciled  with 
all  the  others  "svilh  whom  ilu y  have  been  at  war, 
and  foriiet  the  liostility  wliich  has  arisen,  hnit  to 
the  inhabitants  of  tlie  continent  they  do  not  feel 
grateful,  even  when  they  receive  benefits  ffrivu 
them],  so  undying  is  th.e  anger  they  feel  toward 
them.  .Vnd  our  fathers  condemned  ]nany  to 
death  for  favoring  the  ]\redes;  and  even  at  the 
present  day,  in  their  public  assemblies,  they 
make  imprecations,  before  they  transact  any 
other  business,  on  whomsoever  of  the  citizens 
makes  pro])osals  for  peace  to  the  Persians.  xVnd 
the  Eumolpidffi  and  the  Heralds,  in  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  mysteries,  on  account  of  their  hatred 
for  them,  proclaim  publicly  also  to  all  other  for- 
eigners, as  they  do  to  homicides,  that  they  are 
excluded  fro?n  the  sacred  rites.  And  such  hos- 
tile feelings  do  we  entertain  by  nature  toward 
theiii.  that  even  in  our  legends,  Ave  occupy  our- 
selves with  most  ])leasure  with  those  relating  to 
the  Tr(\ian  and  Persian  v,'ars,  by  which  it  is  pos- 
sible to  licar  of  tht>ir  calamities.  xVnd  one  might 
finds  hymns  composed  in  conserpience  of  the  war 
against  th(i  forci^ni^'s,  luit  dirges  produced  for 
us  in  cons('(juence  of  that  agaijist  the  CJreeks,  and 
might  find  the  former  sung  at  the  festivals, 
while  we  call  to  n'.'ind  the  latter  in  our  calan;i- 
ties.  And  I  tliink  that  even  the  poetry  of  Iloiiier 
received  iiTcalrr  honors,  IxH-ansr*  he  nobly  ex- 
tolled those  who  made  war  against  the  foreign 
foe:  and  that  for  this  i'(>ason  our  ancestors 
wished  to  nuike  his  art  honored,  both  in  the  con- 

9", 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

tests  in  poetry  and  in  the  education  of  the 
younger  generation,  in  order  that,  hearing  fre- 
quently his  poems,  we  may  learn  by  heart  the 
enmity  which  existed  toward  them,  and,  emu- 
lating the  deeds  of  valor  of  those  who  made  war 
upon  them,  may  set  our  hearts  upon  the  same 
exploits  as  they  achieved. 

Wherefore  there  appear  to  me  to  be  very  manj^ 
things  which  encourage  us  to  make  war  against 
them,  and  especially  the  present  favorable  oppor- 
tunity, than  w^hich  nothing  is  more  clear.  And 
we  must  not  let  it  slip.  For,  in  fact,  it  is  dis- 
graceful not  to  use  it  when  present,  but  to 
remember  it  when  it  is  past.  For  what  addi- 
tional advantage  could  we  even  wish  to  have,  if 
intending  to  go  to  war  with  the  king,  beyond 
what  we  already  possess?  Has  not  Egypt  re- 
volted from  him,  as  well  as  Cyprus ;  and  have 
not  Phoenicia  and  Syria  been  devastated  owing 
to  the  war;  and  has  not  Tyre,  on  account  of 
which  he  was  greatly  elated,  been  seized  by  his 
enemies?  And  the  majority  of  the  cities  in 
Cilicia  those  on  our  side  possess,  and  the  rest  it 
is  not  difficult  to  acquire.  But  Lycia  no  one  of 
the  Persians  ever  conquered.  And  llecatomnos, 
the  overseer  of  Caria,  in  reality  indeed  has  re- 
volted for  a  long  time  already,  and  will  confess 
it  whenever  we  may  wish.  And  from  Cnidus  to 
Sinope  the  Greeks  inhabit  the  coasts  of  Asia, 
whom  it  is  not  necessary  to  persuade  to  go  to 
war,  but  [only]   not  to  prevent  them. 

And  yet,  as  we  already  possess  so  many  bases 
96 


iSOC  RAILS 


ISOCRATES 


of  operation,  and  as  so  creat  a  Avar  encircles 
Asia,  what  need  is  there  too  accurately  to  scruti- 
nize what  are  likely  to  be  the  results  ?  For  where 
they  are  inferior  to  small  portions,  it  is  not  un- 
certain how  tliey  would  be  disi)Osed,  if  they 
should  be  compelled  {o  war  witli  all  of  us.  Now 
the  case  stands  thus.  If.  indeed,  liie  kinii  occujn- 
in  p'reater  force  the  cities  on  the  sea-coast,  estab- 
lishinu'  in  them  <rreater  li'arrisons  tlian  at  present, 
perha])s  also  those  of  the  islands  ^\•hich  are  iiear 
the  mainland,  as  Rhodes  and  Sainos  and  Chios, 
mif;'lit  lean  to  his  fortun(>s :  but  if  we  be  the  first 
to  seize  them,  it  is  probable  that  those  iidiabitint;' 
Lydia  and  Phrygia,  and  the  rest  of  the  counti-y 
which  lies  above  them,  woidd  be  in  the  ])owcr  of 
those  who  make  these  their  base  of  opera.ti'-ns. 
Wherefore  it  is  necessary  to  hast(^]i  and  to  ma]<c 
no  loss  of  time,  that  we  may  not  suffe-r  what  <Mir 
fathers  did. 

And  it  is  fitting'  to  make  the  expedition  in  tln' 
7) resent  age,  in  order  that  those  Avho  participate 
in  the  calamities  may  also  have  the  enjoyjnent  0I' 
the  advantages,  and  may  not  continu(^  to  live  un- 
fortunate during  all  tlieir  lifetime.  For  the  tiiiie 
]iast  is  sufficient — in  whieli  Avhat  horror  is  tlu^r'.' 
whii-h  has  li'^t  happened? — for,  tho  Ihere  are 
many  evils  already  exisling  in  1he  nature  of  ma.n. 
v:('  ourselves  have  invent(>d  in  addilinn  nmi'e 
than  the  ncK-essary  evils,  having  ci-e^aled  Avars  and 
factions  amonu'  ourselves,  so  Ihat  some  are 
perishing  bns'jessly  in  their  own  cities,  and  some 
are  wanderinir  in  a  foreiim  land  with  their  chil- 


117 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

(Iren  and  wives,  and  many  being  compelled, 
through  want  of  the  daily  necessaries  of  life,  to 
serve  as  mercenaries,  are  dying  fighting  against 
their  friends  on  behalf- of  their  enemies.  And  at 
this  no  one  has  ever  been  indignant,  but  they 
think  it  becoming  to  shed  tears  at  the  calamities 
composed  by  poets,  but,  tho  gazing  upon  many 
dreadful  genuine  sufferings  happening  on  ac- 
count of  the  war,  they  are  so  far  from  pitying 
them,  that  they  even  take  more  pleasure  in  the 
misfortunes  of  one  another  than  in  their  own 
personal  advantages.  And  perhaps,  also,  many 
might  laugh  at  my  simplicity,  if  I  were  to  lament 
the  misfortunes  of  individuals  at  such  critical 
times,  in  Avhich  Italy  has  been  devastated,  and 
Sicily  reduced  to  slavery,  and  so  many  cities 
have  been  surrendered  to  the  foreigners,  and  the 
remaining  portions  of  the  Greeks  are  in  the 
greatest  dangers. 

Now  it  is  necessary  to  put  out  of  the  way  these 
plottings  and  to  attempt  those  deeds  from  which 
we  shall  both  inhabit  our  cities  in  greater  secur- 
ity, and  be  more  faithfully  disposed  to  one  an- 
other, and  what  is  to  be  said  about  these  matters 
is  simple  and  easy.  For  it  is  neither  possible  to 
enjoy  a  secure  peace,  unless  we  make  war  in  con- 
cert against  the  foreign  enemy,  nor  for  thr- 
Greeks  to  be  of  one  mind  until  we  consider  both 
our  advantages  to  come  from  one  another,  and 
our  dangers  to  be  against  the  same  people. 

But  when  these  things  have  Ix'cn  done,  and  the 
embarrassment  with  regard  to  our  means  of  liv- 

98 


ISOCRATES 


in^r  has  been  taken  away,  which  both  dissolves 
friendships  and  perverts  relationships  into  en- 
mity, and  involves  all  men  in  wars  and  factions, 
it  is  not  possible  that  we  shall  not  be  of  one  mind, 
and  entertain  toward  one  another  genuine  feel- 
ings of  good  will.  For  which  reasons  we  must 
esteem  it  of  the  greatest  importance  how  we 
shall,  as  soon  as  possible,  banish  the  war  from 
hence  to  the  continent,  as  this  is  the  only  advan- 
tage we  should  reap  from  the  dangers  in  fighting 
against  one  another,  namely,  if  it  should  seem 
good  to  us  to  employ  against,  the  foreign  foe  the 
experience  which  we  have  derived  from  them. 
And  truly  we  shall  not  even  annoy  the  cities 
by  enrolling  soldiers  from  them,  a  thing  which  is 
now  most  troublesome  to  them  in  the  war  against 
one  another;  for  I  think  that  those  who  will  wish 
to  stay  at  home  will  be  much  fewer  in  number 
than  those  who  will  desire  to  follow  with  us.  For 
who,  whether  yt'ung  or  old,  is  so  indifferent  that 
he  will  not  wish  to  have  a  share  in  this  expedi- 
tion, commanded  indeed  by  the  Athenians  and 
Lacedtemonians,  but  collected  in  defense  of  the 
liberty  of  the  allies,  and  sent  out  by  the  whole  of 
Hellas,  and  marching  to  take  vengeance  upon  the 
foreign  foe?  And  how  great  must  we  consider 
the  fame,  and  the  memory,  and  the  glory  which 
those  will  either  have  in  their  lives,  or  leave  be- 
hind them  in  their  deaths,  who  have  been  the 
bravest  in  such  exploits?  For  where  those  who 
made  war  against  Alexander,  and  captured  one 
city,  were  deemed  A\orthy  of  such  praises,  what 
9f> 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

panegyrics  must  we  expect  that  they  will  obtain 
who  have  conquered  the  whole  of  Asia?  For 
who,  either  of  those  able  to  write  poetry,  or  of 
those  who  understand  how  to  speak,  will  not 
labor  and  study,  wishing  to  leave  behind  him  a 
memorial  for  all  ages,  at  the  same  time  of  his 
own  intellect  and  of  their  valor  ? 


lod 


ISAEUS 

IN   THE   SUIT   AGAINST  DICZEOGENES  AND 
LEOCHARES' 

Born  about  42C  B.C.;  studied  oratorj- under  Isoerates,  and  became  a 

teacher  of  Demosthenes;  eleven  of  his  speeches,  relating  chiefly  to 

the  law  of  inheritance,  have  survived. 

You  have  heard  the  testimony  of  these  wit- 
nesses, and  I  am  persuaded  that  even  Leochare.s 
himself  will  not  venture  to  assert  ihat  they  are 
perjured;  but  he  will  have  rc^eoursi^  perhaps  to 
his  defense,  that  Dicjpogenes  has  fiiily  j^ei-foi-med 
his  agreement,  and  that  his  own  ofiiee  of  surety 
is  completely  satisfied.  If  he  allege  this,  he  will 
speak  untruly  and  will  easily-  be  confuted;  for 
the  clerk  shall  read  to  you  a  schedule  of  all  the 
effects  which  Dicffiogenes,  the  son  of  ]\[enexenus, 
left  behind  him,  together  with  an  inventoiy  of 
those  which  the  defendant  unjustly  took:  arid  il' 
he  affirms  that  our  uncle  neither  had  them  in 
his  lifetime  nor  left  them  to  us  at  his  death,  h^t 
him  prove  his  assertion;  or  if  he  insists  that  the 
goods  were  indeed  ours,  but  that  we  had  them 
restored  to  us,  let  him  call  a  single  witness  to 
that  fact;  as  we  have  ])ri)duced  evidence  on  our 
part  that  Dica'ogeix's  ])romisfd  to  ,L;ive  us  back 
till'  two-thirds  ol'  v/liat  the  .son  of  MmcxfMius  ()os- 
se.^sed,  and  that  LeoL-hai'</-i  undcrtoiik  to  see  him 

'  Detivere'J  in  .Mhens.  Translalf-'lhy  Sir  William  .Jones.  Abridj^ed. 
101 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

perform  his  promise.  This  is  the  ground  of  our 
action,  and  this  we  have  sworn  to  be  true.  Let 
the  oath  again  be  read. 

Xow,  judges,  if  the  defendants  intended  only 
to  clear  themselves  of  this  charge,  what  has  al- 
ready been  said  would  be  sufficient  to  ensure 
my  success;  but,  since  they  are  prepared  to  en- 
ter once  more  into  the  merits  of  the  question  con- 
cerning the  inheritance,  I  am  desirous  to  inform 
you  on  our  side  of  all  the  transactions  in  our 
family;  that,  being  apprised  of  the  truth,  and 
not  deluded  b}'  their  artifices,  you  may  give  a 
sentence  agreeable  to  reason  and  justice. 

Menexenus  our  grandfather  had  one  son 
named  Dicseogenes,  and  four  daughters,  of  whom 
Polyaratus  my  father  married  one;  another  was 
taken  by  Democles  of  Phrearrhi;  a  third  by 
Ccphisophon  of  Pi^ania ;  and  the  fourth  was  es- 
poused by  Theopompus  the  father  of  Cephisodo- 
tus.  Our  uncle  Dicti'ogenes,  having  sailed  to 
Cnidos  in  the  Parhalian  galley,  was  slain  in  a 
sea  fight;  and,  as  he  left  no  children,  Proxenus 
the  defendant's  father  brought  a  will  to  our 
parents,  in  which  his  son  was  adopted  by  the 
deceased  and  appointed  heir  to  a  third  part  of 
his  fortune;  this  part  our  parents,  unable  at 
that  time  to  contest  the  validity  of  the  will, 
permitted  him  to  take;  and  each  of  the  daugh- 
ters of  Menexenus,  as  we  shall  prove  by  the  tes- 
timony of  persons  then  x)resent,  had  a  decree 
for  her  share  of  the  residue. 

When  they  had  thus  divided  the  inheritance 
102 


IS^US 

and  had  bound  themselves  hy  oath  to  acquiesce 
in  tlie  division,  each  person  possessed  his  allot- 
ment for  twelve  years;  in  which  time,  tho  the 
courts  were  frequently  open  for  the  administra- 
tion of  justice,  not  one  of  these  men  thoug'ht  of 
alleging  any  unfairness  in  the  transaction ;  un- 
til 1,  when  the  state  was  afflicted  with  troubles 
and  seditions,  this  Dicieogenes  was  persuaded  by 
]\[elas  the  Egyptian,  to  Avhom  he  used  to  submit 
on  other  occasions,  to  demand  from  us  all  our 
uncle's  fortune  and  to  assert  that  he  was  ap- 
])ointed  heir  to  the  whole. 

AVhen  he  began  his  litigation  we  tliought  he 
was  deprived  of  his  senses ;  never  imagining  that 
the  same  man,  who  at  one  time  claimed  as  heir 
1o  a  third  part,  and  at  another  time  as  heir  to 
the  whole,  could  gain  any  credit  before  this  tri- 
bunal ;  but  when  we  came  into  court,  altho  we 
urged  more  arguments  than  our  adversary  and 
spoke  with  justice  on  our  side,  yet  we  lost  our 
cause;  not  through  any  fault  of  the  jury,  but 
through  the  villainy  of  Melas  and  his  associates, 
who,  taking  advantage  of  the  public  disorders, 
assumed  a  power  of  seizing  possessions  to  which 
tliey  had  no  right,  by  swearing  falsely  for  each 
other.  By  such  men,  therefore,  Avere  the  jury 
deceived;  and  we,  overcome  by  this  abominable 
inicpiity,  were  stripped  of  our  etfects;  for  my 
father  died  not  long  after  the  trial  and  before 
lie  could  prosecute,  as  he  intendc^d,  the  perjured 
witnesses  of  his  antagonist. 

On  the  very  day  when  Dica'ogenes  had  thus 
10:5 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

infamously  prevailed  against  us,  he  ejected  the 
daughter  of  Cephisophon,  the  niece  of  him  who 
left  the  estate  from  the  portion  allotted  to  her; 
took  from  the  wife  of  Democles  what  her  brother 
had  gi^en  her  as  coheiress:  and  deprived  both 
the  mother  of  Cephisodotus  and  the  unfortunate 
youth  himself  of  their  whole  fortune.  Of  all 
these  he  was  at  the  same  time  guardian  and 
spoiler,  next  of  kin,  and  crudest  enemy;  nor  did 
the  relation  which  he  bore  them  excite  in  the  least 
degree  his  compassion ;  but  the  unhappy  orphans, 
deserted  and  indigent,  became  destitute  even  of 
daily  necessities. 

Such  was  the  guardianship  of  Dicasogenes  their 
nearest  kinsman !  who  gave  to  their  avowed  foes 
what  their  father  Theopompus  had  left  them, 
illegally  possesses  himself  of  the  property-  which 
tliey  had  from  their  maternal  uncle  and  their 
grandfather;  and  (what  was  the  most  open  act 
of  cruelty)  having  purchased  the  house  of  their 
father  and  demolished  it,  he  dug  up  the  ground 
on  which  it  stood,  and  made  that  handsome  gar- 
den for  his  own  house  in  the  city. 

Still  further,  altho  he  receives  an  annual  rent 
of  eighty  minas  from  the  estate  of  his  uncle,  yet 
such  are  his  insolence  and  profligacy  that  he  sent 
my  cousin,  Cephisodotus,  to  Corinth  as  a  ser- 
vile attendant  on  his  brother  Ilarmodius;  and 
adds  to  his  other  injuries  this  cruel  reproach, 
that  he  wears  ragged  clothes  and  coarse  buskins; 
but  is  not  this  unjust,  since  it  was  his  own  vio- 
lence which  reduced  the  boy  to  poverty? 
104 


IS^US 

On  this  point  enough  has  been  said.  I  now 
return  to  the  narration  from  which  I  have  thus 
disgi'essed.  ^Nlenexenus  then,  the  son  of  Cephiso- 
phon,  and  cousin  both  to  this  young  man  and  to 
me,  having  a  claim  to  an  equal  portion  of  the 
inheritance,  began  a  prosecution  against  those 
who  had  perjured  themselves  in  the  former 
cause,  and  convicted  Lj'con,  whom  he  had  first 
brought  to  justice,  of  having  falsely  sworn  that 
our  uncle  appointed  this  Dicfeogenes  heir  to  his 
whole  estate;  when,  therefore,  this  pretended 
heir  was  disappointed  in  his  hopes  of  deluding 
you,  he  persuaded  ^lenexenus,  who  was  acting 
both  for  our  interest  and  his  own,  to  make  a 
compromise,  which,  though  I  blush  to  tell  it,  his 
baseness  compels  me  to  disclose. 

^Yhat  was  their  agreement? 

That  ]\renexenus  should  receive  a  competent 
share  of  the  effects  on  condition  of  his  betraying 
us,  and  of  releasing  the  other  false  witnesses, 
whom  he  had  not  yet  convicted ;  thus,  injured 
by  our  enemies,  and  by  our  friends,  we  remained 
with  silent  indignation. 

Again,  when  contributions  were  contiinially 
bi'ought  by  all  who  loved  their  country,  to  sri]v 
port  the  war  and  provide  for  the  safety  ot'  ihe 
state,  nothing  came  from  Dica'ogcncs;  whon 
Leehteu;n  indeed  was  taken,  and  v.heii  b."  \\as 
])ressed  by  otliers  to  eonti'ibute,  he  ]>r()jnise(l  jhiIj- 
licly  that  he  would  give  thi'ee  niinas,  a  sniii  less 
than  that  which  Cleonymus  the  Crc^tan  volun- 
tarily offered;  yet  even  this  promise  he  never 
105 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

performed;  but  his  name  was  hung  up  on  the 
statues  of  the  Eponymi  with  an  inscription  as- 
serting, to  his  eternal  dishonor,  that  he  had  not 
paid  the  contribution,  which  he  promised  in 
public,  for  his  country's  service.  Who  can  now 
wonder,  judges,  that  he  deceived  me,  a  private 
individual,  when  he  so  notoriously  deluded  you 
all  in  your  common  assembly?  Of  this  transac- 
tion you  shall  now  hear  the  proofs. 

Such  and  so  splendid  have  been  the  services 
which  Dicffiogenes,  possessed  of  so  large  a  for- 
tune, has  performed  for  the  city.  You  perceive, 
too,  in  what  manner  he  conducts  himself  toward 
his  relations;  some  of  whom  he  has  deprived,  as 
far  as  he  was  able,  of  their  property;  others  he 
has  basely  neglected,  and  forced,  through  the 
want  of  mere  necessaries  to  enter  into  the  ser- 
vice of  some  foreign  power.  All  Athens  saw 
his  mother  sitting  in  the  temple  of  Illithyia,  and 
heard  her  accuse  him  of  a  crime  which  I  blush 
to  relate,  but  which  he  blushed  not  to  commit. 
As  to  his  friends,  he  has  now  incurred  the  vio- 
lent hatred  of  ]\Iela3  the  Egj^ptian,  who  had 
been  fond  of  him  in  his  early  youth,  by  refu- 
sing to  j)ay  him  a  sum  of  money  which  he  had 
borrowed;  his  other  companions  he  had  either 
defrauded  of  sums  which  they  lent  him,  or  has 
failed  to  perform  his  promise  of  giving  them 
part  of  his  plunder  if  he  succeeded  in  his  cause. 

Yet  our  ancestors,  judges,  who  first  acquired 
this  estate,  and  left  it  to  their  descendants,  con. 
ducted  all  the  public  games,  contribute(?   liber 
lOG 


ISJEUS 

ally  toward  the  expense  of  the  war,  and  con- 
tinual Ij  had  the  command  of  galleys,  which 
they  equipped :  of  these  noble  acts  the  presents 
with  which  they  were  able,  from  what  remained 
of  their  fortune  after  their  necessary  charges, 
to  decorate  the  temples,  are  no  less  undeniable 
proofs,  than  they  are  lasting  monuments  of  their 
virtue ;  for  they  dedicated  to  Bacchus  the  tri- 
pods which  they  won  by  their  magnificence  in 
their  games ;  they  gave  new  ornaments  to  the 
temple  of  the  Pythian  Apollo,  and  adorned  the 
shrine  of  the  goddess  in  the  citadel,  where  they 
offei'ed  the  first  fruits  of  their  estate,  with  a 
great  number,  if  we  consider  that  they  were 
only  private  men,  of  statues  both  in  brass  and 
stone,  they  died  fighting  resolutely  in  defence  of 
their  country ;  for  Dicteogenes,  the  father  of  my 
grandfather,  ^Menexenus,  fell  at  the  head  of  the 
Olysian  legion  in  Spartolus ;  and  his  son,  my 
uncle,  lost  his  life  at  Cnidos,  where  he  com- 
manded the  Parhaliar  galley. 

His  estate,  0  DiciKogeues,  thou  hast  unjustly 
seized  and  shamefully  wasted,  and,  having  con- 
verted it  into  money,  hast  the  assurance  to  coni' 
plain  of  poverty.  IIow  hast  thou  spent  that 
money?  Not  lor  the  use  of  the  state  or  of 
your  friends;  since  it  is  apparent  that  no  part  of 
it  has  been  em])loyed  for  those  purposes;  not 
in  breeding  fine  horses,  for  thou  never  wast  in 
possession  of  a  horse  worth  more  than  threes 
minas;  not  in  chariots,  for.  with  so  many  farms 
and  so  great  a  fortune,  thou  never  liadst  a  single 
107 


J 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

carriage  even  drawn  by  mules ;  nor  hast  thou 
redeemed  any  citizen  from  captivity;  nor  hast 
thou  conveyed  to  the  citadel  those  statues  which 
Menexenus  had  ordered  to  be  made  for  the  price 
of  three  talents,  but  was  prevented  by  his  death 
from  consecrating  in  the  temple;  and,  through 
thy  avarice,  they  lie  to  this  day  in  the  shop  of 
the  statuary;  thus  hast  thou  presumed  to  claim 
an  estate  to  which  thou  hast  no  color  of  right, 
and  hast  not  restored  to  the  gods  the  statues, 
which  were  truly  their  own. 

On  what  ground,  Dic^i20genes,  canst  thou  ask 
the  jury  to  give  a  sentence  in  thy  favor?  Is  it 
because  thou  hast  frequently  served  the  public 
offices ;  expended  large  sums  of  money  to  make 
the  city  more  respectable,  and  greatly  benefited 
the  state  by  contributing  bountifully  toward 
supporting  the  war?  Nothing  of  this  sort  can 
be  alleged  with  truth.  Is  it  because  thou  art  a 
valiant  soldier?  But  thou  never  once  could  be 
persuaded  to  serve  in  so  violent  and  formidable 
a  war,  in  which  even  the  Olynthians  and  the 
islanders  lose  their  lives  with  eagerness,  since 
they  fight  for  this  country ;  whilst  thou,  who  art 
a  citizen,  wouldst  never  take  arms  for  the  city. 

l^^rhaps  the  dignity  of  thy  ancestors,  who  slew 
the  tyrant,  emboldens  thee  to  triumph  over  us: 
as  for  them,  indeed,  I  honor  and  applaud  them, 
but  cannot  think  that  a  spark  of  their  virtue 
animates  thy  bosom ;  for  thou  hast  preferred 
the  plunder  of  our  inheritance  to  the  glory  of 
being  their  descendant,  and  wouldst  rather  be 
108 


IS^US 

called  the  son  of  DiciPogenes  than  of  Ilarmodins; 
not  regarding  the  right  of  being  entertained  in 
the  Prytaneiun,  nor  setting  any  value  on  the  pre- 
cedence and  immunities  which  the  posterity  of 
those  heroes  enjoy:  yet  it  was  not  for  noble 
birth  that  Ilarmouins  and  Aristogiton  were  so 
transcendently  honored,  but  for  their  valor  and 
pi'obity ;  of  which  thou,  Dica^ogenes,  hast  not  the 
siriallest  share. 


109 


DEMOSTHENES 


THE   SECOND   ORATION  AGAINST  PHILIP^ 

(344  B.C.) 

Born  in  884  B.C.,  died  in  322;  entered  public  life  when  about  twenty- 
five  years  old,  "and  from  that  time  till  his  death  his  history  is  the 
history  of  Athens";  sixty  of  his  speeches  preserved,  tho  some 
probably  are  spurious;  his  masterpiece,  indeed  the  masterpiece  of 
oratory,  is  "  The  Oration  on  the  Crown.'' 

Athenians!  when  the  hostile  attempts  of 
Philip,  and  those  outrageous  violations  of  the 
peace  which  he  is  perpetually  committing,  are 
at  any  time  the  subject  of  our  debates,  the 
speeches  on  your  side  I  find  humane  and  just, 
and  that  the  sentiments  of  those  who  inveigh 
against  Philip  never  fail  of  approbation;  but 
as  to  the  necessary  measures,  to  speak  out  plainly, 
not  one  has  been  pursued,  nor  anything  effected 
even  to  reward  the  attention  to  these  harangues. 
Nay,  to  such  circumstances  is  our  state  reduced, 
that  the  more  fully  and  evidently  a  man  proves 
that  Philip  is  acting  contrary  to  his  treaty,  and 
harboring  designs  against  (ireece,  the  greater  is 
his  difficulty  in  pointing  out  your  duty. 

The  reason  is  this.  They  who  aspire  to  an 
extravagant  degree  of  power  are  to  be  opposed 

'  Delirered  in  Athens  about  344  B.C.     Translated  h^   Thomas 
Lelaad.    Abridged. 

HO 


DF.MOSTI  IF.M.S 


DEMOSTHENES 


by  force  and  action,  not  by  speeches ;  and  yet 
in  the  first  place,  we  public  speakers  are  unwill- 
ing to  recommend  or  to  propose  anything  to 
this  purpose,  from  the  fear  of  your  displeasure ; 
but  confine  ourselves  to  general  representations 
of  the  grievous,  of  the  outrageous  nature  of  his 
conduct,  and  the  like.  Then  you  who  attend  are 
better  qualified  than  Philip,  either  to  plead  the 
justice  of  your  cause  or  to  apprehend  it  when 
enforced  by  others;  but  as  to  any  effectual  op- 
position to  his  present  designs,  in  this  you  are 
entirely  inactive.  You  see,  then,  the  consequence, 
the  necessary,  the  natural  consequence,  each  of 
you  excels  in  that  which  has  engaged  your  time 
and  application,  he  in  acting,  you  in  speaking. 
And  if,  on  this  occasion,  it  be  sufficient  that  we 
speak  with  a  superior  force  of  truth  and  justice, 
this  may  be  done  with  the  utmost  ease ;  but 
if  we  are  to  consider  how  to  rectify  our  present 
disorders,  how  to  guard  againsc  the  danger  of 
plunging  inadvertently  into  still  greater,  against 
the  progress  of  a  power  which  may  at  last  bear 
down  all  opposition — then  must  our  debates  pro- 
ceed in  a  different  manner;  and  all  they  who 
sj)eak,  and  all  you  who  attend,  nuist  prefer  the 
best  and  most  salutary  measures  to  the  easiest 
and  most  agreeable. 

First,  then,  Athenians,  if  there  be  a  man  who 
feels  no  a})i»rehensions  at  the  view  of  Philip's 
power,  and  the  extent  of  his  concjuests,  who 
imagines  that  these  portend  no  danger  to  the 
state,  or  that  his  designs  are  not  all  aimed 
111 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

against  you,  I  am  amazed !  and  must  entreat 
the  attention  of  you  all  while  I  explain  those 
reasons  briefly  which  induce  me  to  entertain 
different  expectations,  and  to  regard  Philip  as 
our  real  enemy;  that  if  I  appear  to  have  looked 
forward  with  the  more  penetrating  eye,  you 
may  join  with  me:  if  they  who  are  thus  secure 
and  confident  in  this  man,  you  may  yield  to 
their  direction. 

In  the  first  place,  therefore,  I  consider  the 
acquisitions  made  by  Philip,  w^hen  the  peace 
was  just  concluded,  Thermopylae,  and  the  com- 
mand of  Phocis.  What  use  did  he  make  of 
these?  He  chose  to  serve  the  interest  of  Thebes, 
not  that  of  Athens.  And  why?  As  ambition 
is  his  great  passion,  universal  empire  the  sole 
object  of  his  views;  not  peace,  not  tranquillity, 
not  any  just  purpose:  lie  knew  this  well,  that 
neither  our  constitution  nor  our  principles  would 
admit  him  to  prevail  on  you  by  anything  he 
could  promise,  by  anything  he  could  do,  to 
sacrifice  one  state  of  Greece  to  your  private 
interest ;  but  that,  as  you  have  the  due  regard 
to  justice,  as  you  have  an  abhorrence  of  tlie 
least  stain  on  your  honor,  and  as  you  have  that 
quick  discernment  which  nothing  can  escape. 
the  moment  his  attempt  was  m.ade,  you  would 
oppose  him  with  the  same  vigor  as  if  you  }our- 
selves  had  been  immediately  attacked.  The  Tiie- 
bans,  he  supposed  (aud  the  event  confirmed  his 
opinion),  would,  for  tlie  sake  of  any  private  ad- 
vantage, suffer  him  to  act  toward  others  as  he 
112 


DEMOSTHENES 


pleased;  and  far  from  opposinc:  or  iinpedinc; 
his  designs,  would  be  ready  at  his  comma lul  to 
fight  on  his  side.  From  the  same  persuasion 
he  now  heaps  his  favors  on  the  ]\Iessenians  and 
Argians.  And  this  reflects  the  greatest  luster 
on  you,  my  countrymen ;  for  by  these  proceed- 
ings you  are  declared  the  only  invariable  assert- 
ors  of  the  rights  of  Clreece — the  only  persons 
whom  no  private  attachment,  no  views  of  in- 
terest, can  seduce  from  their  affection  to  the 
Greeks. 

And  that  it  is  with  reason  he  entertains  these 
sentiments  of  you,  and  sentiments  so  different 
of  the  Thebans  and  the  Argians,  he  may  be  con- 
vinced, not  from  the  present  only,  but  from  a 
review  of  former  times;  for  he  must  have  been 
informed,  I  presume  he  cannot  but  have  heard, 
that  your  ancestors,  when,  by  sui^mitting  to  the 
king,  they  might  have  purchased  the  sovereignty 
of  Greece,  not  only  scorned  to  listen  when  Alex- 
ander, this  man's  ancestor,  was  made  the  mes- 
senger of  such  terms,  but  chose  to  abandon  their 
city,  encountered  every  possible  difficulty,  and 
after  all  this  pcrforn)ed  such  exploits  as  men 
are  ever  eager  to  recite,  yet  with  the  just  force 
and  dignity'  no  man  could  ever  express;  and 
therefore  it  becomes  v.,e  to  be  silent  on  this  sub- 
ject; for  in  reality  their  actions  are  superior 
to  the  X)OWer  of  words.  As  to  the  ancestors  of 
the  Thebans  and  the  Argians,  the  one,  he  knows, 
fought  foi'  the  barbarian:  the  others  did  not 
oppose  him.  Tie  kn^'w,  then,  that  both  these 
113 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

people  would  attend  but  their  private  interest, 
without  the  least  regard  to  the  common  cause 
of  Greece.  Should  he  choose  you  for  allies,  you 
would  serve  him  so  far  only  as  justice  would 
permit;  but  if  he  attached  himself  to  them, 
he  gained  assistants  in  all  the  schemes  of  his 
ambition.  This  it  is  that  then  determined  him, 
this  it  is  that  now  determines  him  to  their  side 
rather  than  to  yours :  not  that  he  sees  they 
have  a  greater  naval  force  than  we;  or  that, 
having  gained  the  sovereignty  in  the  inland 
countries,  he  declines  the  command  of  the  seas 
and  the  advantages  of  commerce ;  or  that  he 
has  forgotten  those  pretenses,  those  promises 
which  obtained  him  the  peace. 

But  I  may  be  told :  It  is  true,  he  did  act  thus ; 
but  not  from  ambition,  or  from  any  of  those 
motives  of  which  I  accuse  him ;  but  as  he  thought 
the  cause  of  Thebes  more  just  than  ours.  This 
of  all  pretenses  he  cannot  now  allege.  Can  he, 
who  commands  the  Lacediemonians  to  quit  their 
claim  to  Messene,  pretend  that,  in  giving  up 
Orchomenus  and  Coronea  to  the  Thebans,  he 
acted  from  regard  to  justice?  But  now  comes 
his  last  subterfuge.  He  was  compelled,  and 
yielded  these  places  quite  against  his  inclinations, 
being  encompassed  by  the  Thessalian  horse  and 
Theban  infantry.  Fine  pretense!  Just  so,  they 
cry,  he  is  to  entertain  suspicions  of  the  Thebans ; 
and  some  spread  rumors  of  their  own  framing, 
that  he  is  to  fortify  Elatea.  Yes !  these  things 
are  yet  to  be,  and  so  will  they  remain,  in  my 
114 


DEMOSTHENES 


opinion ;  but  liis  attack  on  Laceda^mon,  in  con- 
junction with  the  Thebaus  and  Argians,  is  not 
yet  to  be  made.  No :  he  is  actually  detaching 
forces,  supplying  money,  and  is  himself  expect- 
ed at  the  head  of  a  formidable  army.  The  Lace- 
da?monians,  therefore,  the  enemies  of  Thebes,  he 
now  infests.  And  will  he  then  restore  the 
Phocians,  whom  he  has  but  just  now  ruined? 
"Who  can  believe  this?  I,  for  my  part,  can  never 
think,  if  Philip  had  been  forced  into  those  former 
measures,  or  if  he  had  now  abandoned  the  The- 
bans,  that  he  would  make  this  continued  oppo- 
sition to  their  enemies.  No,  his  present  measures 
prove  that  all  his  past  conduct  was  the  effect 
of  choice ;  and  from  all  his  actions,  it  appears 
that  all  his  actions  are  directly  leveled  against 
this  state ;  and  there  is  in  some  sort  a  necessity 
for  this.  Consider,  he  aims  at  empire,  and  from 
you  alone  he  expects  opposition.  He  has  long 
loaded  us  with  injuries;  and  of  this  he  himself 
is  most  intimately  conscious;  for  those  of  our 
possessions  which  he  has  reduced  to  his  service 
he  uses  as  a  barrier  to  his  other  territories:  so 
that,  if  he  should  give  up  Amphipolis  and  Poti- 
daja,  he  would  not  think  himself  secure  even  in 
Macedon.  lie  is  therefore  sensible  that  he  enter- 
tains designs  against  you,  and  that  you  perceive 
them.  Then,  as  he  thinks  highly  of  your  wis- 
dom, he  concludes  that  you  must  hold  him  in 
that  abhorrence  which  he  merits;  hence  is  he 
alarmed,  expecting  to  feel  some  eiTects  of  your 
resentment  (if  you  have  any  favorable  oppor- 
115 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

tunity)  unless  he  prevent  you  by  his  attack. 
Hence  is  his  vigilance  awakened;  his  arm  raised 
against  the  state ;  he  courts  some  of  the  Thebans, 
and  such  of  the  Peloponnesians  as  have  the  same 
views  with  him ;  whom  he  deems  too  mercenary 
to  regard  anything  but  present  interest,  and 
too  perversely  stupid  to  foresee  any  consequen- 
ces. And  yet  persons  of  but  moderate  discern- 
ment may  have  some  manifest  examples  to  alarm 
them,  which  I  had  occasion  to  mention  to  the 
Messenians  and  to  the  Argians.  Perhaps  it  may 
be  proper  to  repeat  them  here. 

' '  Messenians ! ' '  said  I,  ' '  how  highly,  think 
ye,  would  the  Olynthians  have  been  offended  if 
any  man  had  spoken  against  Philip  at  that  time 
when  he  gave  them  up  Anthemus,  a  city  which 
the  former  kings  of  ]\Iacedon  had  ever  claimed? 
when  he  drove  out  the  Athenian  colony,  and  gave 
them  Potidaia?  when  he  took  all  our  resent- 
ment on  himself,  and  left  them  to  enjoy  our 
dominions?  Did  they  expect  to  have  suffered 
thus  ?  Had  it  been  foretold,  would  they  have  be- 
lieved it?  You  cannot  think  it!  Yet,  after  a 
short  enjoyment  of  the  territories  of  others, 
they  have  been  forever  despoiled  of  their  own 
by  this  riian.  Inglorious  has  been  their  fall, 
not  conquered  only,  but  betrayed  and  sold  by 
one  another;  for  those  intimate  correspondences 
with  tyrants  ever  portend  mischief  to  free 
states." — "Turn  your  eyes,"  said  I,  "to  the 
Thessalians !  think  ye,  that  when  he  first  ex- 
pelled their  tyrants,  when  he  then  gave  them  up 
l]6 


L 


Nicfca  and  Magnesia,  that  they  expected  ever 
to  have  been  subjected  to  those  governors  now 
imposed  on  them  ?  or  that  the  man  Avho  restored 
them  to  their  seat  in  the  amphictyonie  council 
would  have  deprived  them  of  their  own  proper 
revenues  ?  yet,  that  such  was  the  event,  the  world 
can  testify.  In  like  manner,  you  now  behold 
Philip  lavishing  his  gifts  and  promises  on  you. 
If  you  are  wise,  you  will  pray  that  he  may 
never  appear  to  have  deceived  and  abused  you. 
Various  are  the  contrivances  for  the  defense  and 
security  of  cities:  as  battlements,  and  walls,  and 
trenches,  and  every  other  kind  of  fortification ; 
all  which  are  the  effects  of  labor,  and  attended 
with  continual  expense.  But  there  is  one  com- 
mon bulwark  with  which  men  of  prudence  are 
naturally  provided,  the  guard  and  security  of 
all  people,  particularly  of  free  states,  against  the 
assaults  of  tyrants.  AYhat  is  this?  Distrust.  Of 
this  be  mindful :  to  this  adhere :  preserve  this 
carefully,  and  no  calamity  can  affect  you." — 
' '  What  is  it  you  seek  ? ' '  said  I.  ' '  Liberty  ?  x\nd 
do  ye  not  perceive  that  nothing  can  be  more 
adverse  to  this  than  the  very  titles  of  Philip? 
Every  monarch,  every  tyrant  is  an  enemy  to 
liberty,  and  the  opposer  of  laws.  Will  ye  not 
then  be  careful  lest,  while  ye  seek  to  be  freed 
from  war,  you  find  yourselves  his  slaves?" 

It  would  be  just,  Athenians,  to  call  the  men 
before  you  who  gave  those  promises  which  in- 
duced  you   to   conclude   the   peace;   for  neither 
would  I  have  undertaken  the  embassy,  nor  would 
117 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

yon,  I  am  convinced,  have  laid  down  your  arms, 
had  it  been  suspected  that  Philip  would  have 
acted  thus  when  he  had  obtained  peace.  No: 
the  assurances  he  then  gave  were  quite  different 
from  the  present  actions.  There  are  others  also 
to  be  summoned.  "Who  are  these?  The  men 
who,  at  my  return  from  the  second  embassy  ( sent 
for  the  ratification  of  the  treaty^),  when  I  saw 
the  state  abused,  and  warned  you  of  your  danger, 
and  testified  the  truth,  and  opposed  with  all  my 
power  the  giving  up  Thermopylffi  and  Phocis — 
the  men,  I  say,  who  then  cried  out  that  I,  the 
water-drinker,  was  morose  and  peevish;  but  that 
Philip,  if  permitted  to  pass,  would  act  agree- 
ably to  your  desires;  w^ould  fortify  Thespia  and 
Platsea ;  restrain  the  insolence  of  Thebes ;  cut 
through  the  Chersonesus  at  his  own  expense,  and 
give  you  up  Eubcea  and  Oropus,  as  an  equiva- 
lent for  Amphipolis.  That  all  this  was  posi- 
tively affirmed  you  cannot,  I  am  sure,  forget, 
tho  not  remarkable  for  remembering  injuries. 
And,  to  complete  the  disgrace,  you  have  en- 
gaged your  posterity  to  the  same  treaty,  in  full 
dependence  on  those  promises;  so  entirely  have 
you  been  seduced. 

And  now,  to  what  purpose  do  I  mention  this? 
and  why  do  I  desire  that  these  men  should  ap- 
pear?    I  call  the  gods  to  witness,  that  without 

The  Peace  of  343  B.C.  is  here  referred  to.  It  lasted  for  six  years. 
During  this  period  Philip  was  constantly  engaged  in  those  intrigues 
against  Athens  which  becaine  t;i»'  subjects  of  the  Second  and  Third 
Philippics  and  other  orations  !>>  Df-mosthenes. 

118 


DEMOSTHENES 


the  least  evasion  I  shall  boldly  declare  the  truth! 
Not  that,  by  breaking  out  into  invectives,  I  may 
expose  myself  to  the  like  treatment,  and  once 
more  give  my  old  enemies  an  opportunity  of 
receiving  Philip's  gold;  nor  yet  that  I  may  in- 
dulge an  impertinent  vanity  of  haranguing;  but 
I  apprehend  the  time  must  come  when  Philip's 
actions  will  give  you  more  concern  than  at  pres- 
ent. His  designs,  I  see,  are  ripening.  I  wish 
my  apprehensions  may  not  prove  just;  but  I 
fear  that  time  is  not  far  off.  And  when  it  will 
no  longer  be  in  your  power  to  disregard  events; 
when  neither  mine  nor  any  other  person's  in- 
formation, but  your  own  knowledge,  your  own 
senses  will  assure  you  of  the  impending  danger, 
then  will  your  severest  resentment  break  forth. 
And  as  your  ambassadors  have  concealed  certain 
things,  influenced  (as  they  themselves  are  con- 
scious) by  corruption,  I  fear  that  they  who  en- 
deavor to  restore  what  these  men  have  ruined 
may  feel  the  weight  of  your  displeasure;  for 
there  are  some,  I  find,  who  generally  point  their 
anger,  not  at  the  deserving  objects,  but  those 
most  inmiediately  at  their  mercy. 

While  our  affairs,  therefore,  remain  not  ab- 
solutely desperate — while  it  is  yet  in  our  power 
to  debate — give  me  leave  to  remind  you  all  of 
one  thing,  tho  none  can  be  ignorant  of  it.  AVho 
was  the  man  that  persuad<Ml  you  to  givt>  up 
Phocis  and  Thermopyke?  which  once  gained, 
he  also  gained  free  access  i'or  liis  troops  to  At- 
tica and  to  Peloponnesus,  and  uli'iged  us  to  turn 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

our  thoughts  from  the  rights  of  Greece,  from  all 
foreign  interests,  to  a  defensive  war,  in  these 
very  territories;  whose  approach  must  be  severe- 
ly felt  by  every  one  of  us;  and  that  very  day 
gave  birth  to  it;  for  had  we  not  been  then  de- 
ceived, the  state  could  have  nothing  to  appre- 
hend. His  naval  power  could  not  have  been 
great  enough  to  attempt  Attica  by  sea ;  nor  could 
he  have  passed  by  land  through  Therniopylffi 
and  Phocis.  But  he  must  have  either  confined 
himself  within  the  bounds  of  justice  and  lived 
in  a  due  observance  of  his  treaty,  or  have  in- 
stantly been  involved  in  a  war  equal  to  that 
which  obliged  him  to  sue  for  peace. 

Thus  much  may  be  sufficient  to  recall  past 
actions  to  your  view.  May  all  the  gods  forbid 
that  the  event  should  confirm  my  suspicions!  for 
I  by  no  means  desire  that  any  man  should  meet 
even  the  deserved  punishment  of  his  crimes, 
when  the  whole  community  is  in  danger  of  being 
involved  in  his  destruction, 

II 
ON  THE  STATE   OF  THE   CHERSONESUS' 

(343  B.C.) 

It  were  to  be  wished,  Athenians,  that  tliey 
who  speak  in  public  would  never  suffer  hatred 
or  affection  to  influence  their  counsels:  but,  in 

1  Delivered  in  Athens  about  342  B.C.,  or  t\vo  vear.s  later  than  tlie 
Second  Philippic.     Translated  !)\  Thoaiai;  Leiand. 

Chersonesua  is  the  (Jreek  \i  .jrd  fV.ra  piiiiu.sula.     In  this  oratioa 


DEMOSTHENES 


all  that  they  propose,  be  directed  by  unbiased 
reason;  particularly  when  affairs  of  state,  and 
those  of  highest  moment,  are  the  object  of  our 
attention.  But  since  there  are  persons  whose 
speeches  are  partlj'  dictated  by  a  spirit  of  con- 
tention, partly  by  other  like  motives,  it  is  your 
dut}',  Athenians,  to  exert  that  power  which  your 
numbers  give  you,  and  in  all  your  resolutions 
and  in  all  your  actions  to  consider  only  the  in- 
terest of  your  country. 

Our  present  concernment  is  about  the  affairs 
of  the  Chersonesus,  and  Philip's  expedition  into 
Thrace,  which  has  now  engaged  him  eleven 
months ;  but  most  of  our  orators  insist  on  the 
actions  and  designs  of  Diopithes.  As  to  crimes 
objected  to  those  men  whom  our  laws  caii  punish 
when  we  please,  I,  for  my  part,  think  it  quite 
indifferent  whether  they  be  considered  now  or 
at  some  other  time;  nor  is  this  a  point  to  be 
violently  contested  b}'  me  or  any  other  speaker. 
But  when  Philip,  the  enemy  of  our  country,  is 
now  actually  hovering  about  tlu^  Hellespont' 
with  a  numerous  arniV,  and  mak-ing  nttempls 
on  our  doniini(.)ns,  which,  if  one  iiioiDent  neglect- 
ed, tlio  loss  may  bi'  ii'r('i)aral)le;  here  onr  a1- 
ti'ntion    is   instantly    demanded;    we   should    re- 

Cliers.'nc-'iis  Tli'-;'.ci'-a  is  rc-'"riT'^'l  ti  .  (1k>  k;:!iii-  l)i':ir'  tlw  nvMiiTii 
pc:!:t:-.ula  <  ■!'  .';al];;i..I:.  !:■  in,-'  lii'iwefn  the  IIi-i;'s;ji(iit  aii.l  llu-  Cul!'  i.T 
Mflas. 

'  T'y  till-  irin.'S]i(irii  "\lr.  Tj'laii.l  caI  ilain -.  in  (Hio  of  liis  notes,  that 
vci'.  ni>>  \ii-vr  to  iii;'^i-^:a:;.l  •;■  t  tli'-  sT  i  ait  il'<i'lf  tliat  s.>]i(Vrat(\- 
Europb  from  Asia,  but  tlaj  uiti.-s  aiil  countries  ulouy  the  coast  line. 

121 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

solve,  we  should  prepare  with  all  possible  ex- 
pedition, and  not  run  from  our  main  concern 
in  the  midst  of  foreign  clamors  and  accusations. 
I  have  frequently  been  surprised  at  assertions 
made  in  public;  but  never  more  than  when  I 
lately  heard  it  affirmed  in  the  senate,  that  there 
are  but  two  expedients  to  be  proposed — either 
absolutely  to  declare  war,  or  to  continue  in 
peace.  The  point  is  this :  if  Philip  acts  as  one 
in  amity  with  us ;  if  he  does  not  keep  possession 
of  our  dominions  contrary  to  his  treaty;  if  he 
be  not  everywhere  spiriting  up  enemies  against 
us,  all  debates  are  at  an  end ;  we  are  undoubtedly 
obliged  to  live  in  peace,  and  I  find  it  perfectly 
agreeable  to  you.  But  if  the  articles  of  our 
treaty,  ratified  by  the  most  solemn  oaths,  re- 
main on  record,  open  to  public  inspection;  if 
it  appears  that  long  before  the  departure  of 
Diopithes  and  his  colony,  who  are  now  accused 
of  involving  us  in  a  war,  Philip  had  unjustly 
seized  many  of  our  possessions  (for  which  I 
appeal  to  your  own  decrees)  ;  if,  ever  since  that 
time,  he  has  been  constantly  arming  himself  with 
all  the  powers  of  Greeks  and  Barbarians  to 
destroy  us— what  do  these  men  mean  who  affirm 
we  are  either  absolutely  to  declare  war,  or  to 
observe  the  peace  ?  You  have  no  choice  at  all ; 
you  have  but  one  just  and  necessary  measure 
to  pursue,  which  they  industriously  pass  over. 
And  what  is  this?  To  repel  force  by  fcrce. 
Unless  they  will  affirm,  that  while  Philip  keeps 
from  Attica  and  the  Piraius,  he  does  our  state 
122 


DEMOSTHENES 


no  injury,  makes  no  war  against  us.  If  it  be 
thus  they  state  the  bounds  of  peace  and  justice, 
we  must  all  acknowledge  that  their  sentiments 
are  inconsistent  with  the  common  rights  of  man- 
kind— with  the  dignity  and  the  safety  of  Athens. 
Besides,  they  th  mselves  contradict  their  own 
accusation  of  Di  pithes.  For  shall  Philip  be 
left  at  full  liberty  to  ursue  all  his  other  designs, 
provided  he  keeps  from  Attica ;  and  shall  not 
Diopithes  be  permitted  to  assist  the  Thracians? 
And  if  he  does,  shall  we  accuse  him  of  involving 
us  in  a  war  ?  But  this  is  their  incessant  ciy : 
"Our  foreign  troops  commit  outrageous  devas- 
tations on  the  Hellespont :  Diopithes,  without  re- 
gard to  justice,  seizes  and  plunders  vessels! 
These  things  must  not  be  suffered."  Be  it  so; 
I  acquiesce  I  but  while  they  are  laboring  to  have 
our  troops  disbanded,  by  inveighing  against  that 
man  whose  care  and  industry  support  them  (if 
they  really  speak  from  a  regard  to  justice),  they 
should  show  us,  that  if  we  yield  to  their  re- 
monstrances Philip's  army  also  will  be  disband- 
ed :  but  it  is  apparent  that  their  whole  aim  is 
to  reduce  the  state  to  those  circumstances  which 
have  occasioned  all  the  losses  we  have  lately 
suffered.  For,  be  assured  of  this,  that  nothing 
has  given  Philip  such  advantage  over  us  as  his 
superior  vigilance  in  improving  all  opportuni- 
ties. For,  as  he  is  constantly  surrounded  by  his 
troops,  and  his  mind  i)erpetually  engaged  in 
projecting  his  designs,  he  can  in  a  moment  strike 
the  blow  where  he  ])h^ases.  But  we  wait  till 
123 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

some  event  alarms  us;  then  we  are  in  motion; 
then  we  prepare.  To  this  alone  I  can  impute 
it,  that  the  conquests  he  has  lately  made  he  now 
enjoys  in  full  security ;  while  all  your  efforts 
are  too  late,  all  your  vast  expenses  ineffectual ; 
your  attempts  have  served  only  to  discover  your 
enmity  and  inclination  to  oppose  him;  and  the 
consequences  of  your  misconduct  are  still  further 
aggravated  by  the  disgrace. 

Know,  then,  Athenians,  that  all  our  orators 
allege  at  present  are  but  words,  but  idle  pre- 
tenses. Their  whole  designs,  their  whole  en- 
deavors are  to  confine  you  within  the  city;  that 
while  we  have  no  forces  in  the  field,  Philip  may 
be  at  full  liberty  to  act  as  he  pleases.  Consider 
the  present  posture  of  affairs.  Philip  is  now 
stationed  in  Thrace,  at  tho  head  of  a  large  army, 
and  (as  we  are  here  informed)  sends  for  rein- 
forcements from  Macedon  and  Thessaly.  Now, 
should  he  watch  the  blowing  of  the  Etesian 
winds,  march  his  forces  to  Byzantium,  and  in- 
vest it ;  in  the  first  place,  can  you  imagine  that 
the  Byzantines  would  persist  in  their  present 
folly ;  or  that  they  would  not  have  recourse  to 
you  for  assistance  ?  I  cannot  think  it.  No : 
if  there  were  people  in  whom  they  less  con- 
fided than  in  us,  they  would  receive  even  these 
into  their  city  rather  than  give  it  up  to  him, 
unless  prevented  by  the  quickness  of  his  attack. 
And  should  we  be  unable  to  sail  thither,  should 
there  be  no  forces  ready  to  support  them, 
nothing  can  prevent  th^ir  ruin.  "But  the  ex- 
];24 


DEMOSTHENES 


travairance  and  folly  of  these  men  exceed  all 
bounds."  I  grant  it.  Yet  still  they  should  be 
secured  from  danger;  for  this  is  the  interest  of 
our  state.  Besides,  it  is  by  no  means  clear  that 
he  will  not  march  into  the  Chersonesus  itself 
On  the  contrary,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  letter 
which  he  sent  to  you,  he  is  determined  to  op- 
pose us  in  that  country.  If  then  the  forces 
stationed  there  be  still  kept  up,  we  may  defend 
our  own  dominions,  and  infest  those  of  our 
enemy;  if  they  be  once  dispersed  and  broken, 
what  shall  we  do  if  he  attempt  the  Chersonesus  ? 
"Bring  Diopithes  to  a  trial."  And  how  will 
that  serve  us?  "No:  but  we  will  dispatch  suc- 
cors from  hence."  What  if  the  winds  prevent 
us?  "But  he  will  not  turn  his  arms  thither." 
Who  will  be  our  surety  for  this?  Consider,  Athe- 
nians, is  not  the  season  of  the  year  approaching 
in  which  it  is  thought  by  some  that  you  are 
to  withdraw  your  forces  from  the  Hellespont, 
and  abandon  it  to  Philip?  But  suppose  (for 
this  too  merits  our  attention)  that  at  his  return 
from  Thrace  he  should  neither  bend  his  force 
against  the  Chersonesus  nor  Byzantium,  but  fall 
on  Chalcis  or  ^Megara,  as  he  lately  did  on 
Oreum ;  which  would  be  the  wiser  course,  tc 
oppose  him  here,  and  make  Attica  the  scat  oi 
war,  or  to  find  him  employment  abroad?  I  tliiiik 
the  latter. 

Let   these  things  sink   deep   into   oui-  niind-;. 
and  let  us  not  rriise   invidious   clainoi's   ;iL;';iiri<f 
those  forces  which  Diopithes  is  endeavoring   1'^ 
125 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

keep  up  for  the  service  of  his  country,  or  at- 
tempt to  break  them:  let  us  rather  prepare  to 
reinforce  them;  grant  their  general  the  neces- 
sary supplies  of  money,  and  in  every  other  in- 
stance favor  his  designs  with  a  hearty  zeal. 
Imagine  this  question  proposed  to  Philip : 
"Which  would  be  most  agreeable  to  you,  that 
the  forces  commanded  by  Diopithes"" — of  what- 
ever kind  they  be,  for  I  shall  not  dispute  on  that 
head — "should  continue  in  full  strength  and 
good  esteem  at  Athens,  and  be  reinforced  by 
detachments  from  the  city;  or  that  the  clamors 
and  invectives  of  certain  persons  should  prevail 
to  have  them  broken  and  disbanded?"  I  think 
he  would  choose  this  latter.  And  are  there  men 
among  us  laboring  for  that  which  Philip  would 
entreat  the  gods  to  grant  him?  And  if  so,  is  it 
still  a  question  whence  our  distresses  have 
arisen  ? 

Let  me  entreat  you  to  examine  the  present 
state  of  Athens  with  an  unbiased  freedom;  to 
consider  how  we  are  acting,  and  how  our  affairs 
are  conducted.  We  are  neither  willing  to  raise 
contributions,  nor  do  we  dare  to  take  the  field, 
nor  do  we  spare  the  public  funds,  nor  do  w^e 
grant  supplies  to  Diopithes,  nor  do  we  approve 
of  those  subsidies  he  has  procured  himself;  but 
M-e  malign  him,  we  pry  into  his  designs,  and 
watch  his  motions.  Thus  we  proceed,  quite  re- 
gardless of  our  interests ;  and  while  in  words  we 
extol  those  speakers  who  assert  the  dignity  of 
their  country,  our  actions  favor  their  opposerj>. 
126 


DEMOSTHENES 


It  U  usual,  when  a  speaker  rises  to  ask  him, 
"What  are  we  to  do?"  Give  me  leave  to  propose 
the  like  question  to  you:  "What  am  I  to  say?" 
For,  if  you  neither  raise  contributions,  nor  take 
the  field,  nor  spare  the  public  funds,  nor  grant 
subsidies  to  Diopithes,  nor  approve  of  those  pro- 
visions he  has  made  himself,  nor  take  the  due 
care  of  our  interests,  I  have  nothing  to  say.  If 
you  grant  such  unbounded  license  to  informers 
as  even  to  listen  to  their  accusations  of  a  man 
for  what  they  pretend  he  will  do,  before  it  be 
yet  done,  what  can  one  say  ? 

But  it  is  necessary  to  explain  to  some  of  you 
the  effect  of  this  behavior.  (I  shall  speak  with 
an  undaunted  freedom,  for  in  no  other  manner 
can  I  speak.)  It  has  been  the  constant  custom 
of  all  the  commanders  who  have  sailed  from 
this  city  (if  I  advance  a  falsehood  let  me  feel 
the  severest  punishment)  to  take  money  from 
the  Chians,  and  from  the  Erythrians,  and  from 
any  people  that  would  give  it ;  I  mean  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Asia.  They  who  have  but  one 
or  two  ships  take  a  talent;  they  who  command 
a  greater  force  raise  a  larger  contribution;  and 
the  people  who  give  this  money,  whether  more 
or  less,  do  not  give  it  for  nothing  (they  are  not 
so  mad)  ;  no,  it  is  the  price  they  pay  to  secure 
their  trading  vessels  from  rapine  and  ])iracy, 
to  i)rovide  them  with  the  necessary  convoys,  and 
the  like,  however,  they  may  pretend  friendship 
and  affection,  and  dignify  those  j)aymei)ts  with 
the  name  of  free  gifts.  It  is  therefore  evident, 
127 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

that  as  Diopithes  is  at  the  head  of  a  considerable 
power,  the  same  contributions  will  be  granted 
to  him.  Else  how  shall  he  pay  his  soldiers?  how 
shall  he  maintain  them,  who  receives  nothing 
from  you,  and  has  nothing  of  his  own?  From 
the  skies?  No;  but  from  what  he  can  collect, 
and  beg,  and  borrow.  So  that  the  whole  scheme 
of  his  accusers  is  to  w^arn  all  people  to  grant  hira 
nothing,  as  he  is  to  suffer  punishment  for  crimes 
yet  to  be  committed,  not  for  any  he  has  already 
committed,  or  in  which  lie  has  already  assisted. 
This  is  the  meaning  of  their  clamors.  "lie  is 
going  to  form  sieges!  he  leaves  the  Greeks  ex- 
posed." Have  these  men  all  this  tenderness  for 
the  Grecian  colonies  of  Asia?  They  then  pre- 
fer the  interests  of  foreigners  to  that  of  their 
own  country.  This  must  be  the  case,  if  they 
prevail  to  have  another  general  sent  to  the  Hel- 
lespont. If  Diopithes  commits  outrages — if  he 
be  guilty  of  piracy,  one  single  edict,  Athenians — 
a  single  edict  will  put  a  stop  to  such  proceedings. 
This  is  the  voice  of  our  laws ;  that  such  offenders 
should  be  impeached,  and  not  opj)osed  with  such 
vast  preparations  of  ships  and  money  (this 
would  be  the  height  of  madness)  :  it  is  agaiust 
our  enemies,  whom  the  laws  cannot  touch,  that 
we  ought,  we  must  maintain  our  forces,  send  out 
our  navies,  and  raise  our  contributions.  But 
when  citizens  have  offended,  we  can  decree,  we 
can  impeach,  we  can  recall.  These  are  arms 
sufficient;  these  are  the  measures  befitting  men 
of  prudence:  they  who  wuuld  raise  disorder  and 
.128 


DEMOSTHENES 


confusion  in  the  state  may  have  recourse  to  such 
as  these  men  propose. 

But  dreadful  as  it  is  to  have  such  men  among 
us,  yet  the  most  dreadful  circumstance  of  all  is 
this.  You  assemble  here,  with  minds  so  dis- 
posed, that  if  any  one  accuses  Diopithes,  or 
Chares,  or  Aristophon,  or  any  citizen  whatever, 
as  the  cause  of  our  misfortunes,  you  instantly 
break  forth  into  acclamations  and  applause.  But 
if  a  man  stands  forth,  and  thus  declares  the 
truth:  "This  is  all  trifling,  Athenians  I  It  is 
to  Philip  Ave  owe  our  calamities:  he  has  plunged 
us  in  these  difficulties ;  for  had  he  observed  his 
treaty,  our  state  would  be  in  perfect  tranquil- 
lity!" This  you  cannot  deny;  but  you  hear  it 
with  the  utmost  grief,  as  if  it  were  the  account 
of  some  dreadful  misfortune.  The  cause  is  this 
(for  when  I  am  to  urge  the  interest  of  my 
country,  let  me  speak  boldly)  :  certain  persons 
who  have  been  intrusted  with  pui)lie  alTairs  have 
for  a  long  time  past  rendered  you  daring  and 
terrible  in  council,  but  in  all  atTairs  of  war 
wretched  and  contemptible.  Hence  it  is,  that 
if  a  citizen,  subject  to  your  own  power  and 
jurisdiction,  be  pointed  out  as  the  author  of 
your  misfortunes,  you  hear  the  accusation  with 
applause:  but  if  they  are  charged  on  a  man  wlio 
must  first  be  con(|uer.'d  b(>fore  he  can  be  punish- 
ed, then  you  are  utterly  disconcerted:  that  truth 
is  tor)  severe  to  be  borne.  Your  itiinisfers,  Athe- 
nians, should  tak'e  a  ([uite  contr-ary  course.  They 
sliouiil  riMjder  v(ju  gi  nth'  and   !iu::i,-inc   in   cmh-k 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

cil,  where  the  rights  of  citizens  and  allies  come 
before  you;  in  military  affairs  they  should  in- 
spire you  with  fierceness  and  intrepidity;  for 
here  you  are  engaged  with  enemies,  with  armed 
troops.  But  now,  by  leading  you  gently  on  to 
their  purposes,  by  the  most  abject  compliance 
with  your  humors,  they  have  so  formed  and 
molded  you  that  in  your  assemblies  you  are 
delicate,  and  attend  but  to  flattery  and  enter- 
tainment, in  your  affairs  you  find  yourselves 
threatened  with  extremity  of  danger. 

And  now,  in  the  name  of  Heaven !  suppose  that 
the  states  of  Greece  should  thus  demand  an 
account  of  those  opportunities  which  your  in- 
dolence has  lost:  "Men  of  Athens!  you  are  ever 
sending  embassies  to  us;  you  assure  us  that 
Philip  is  projecting  our  ruin,  and  that,  of  all 
the  Greeks,  you  warn  us  to  guard  against  this 
man's  designs."  (x\nd  it  is  too  true  we  have 
done  thus.)  "But,  0  most  wretched  of  mankind! 
when  this  man  has  been  ten  months  detained 
abroad;  when  sickness,  and  the  severity  of  win- 
ter, and  the  armies  of  his  enemies  rendered  it 
impossible  for  him  to  return  home,  you  neither 
restored  the  liberty  of  Euba?a  nor  recovered  any 
of  your  own  dominions.  But  while  you  sit  at 
home  in  perfect  ease  and  health  (if  such  a  state 
may  be  called  health),  Eubcea  is  commanded 
by  his  two  tyrants;  the  one,  just  opposite  to 
Attica,  to  keep  you  perpetually  in  awe ;  the  other 
to  Scyathus.  Yet  you  have  not  attempted  to 
oppose  even  this.  No ;  you  have  submitted ;  you 
130 


DEMOSTHENES 


have  been  insensible  to  yoiii-  v.roni^^s;  you  ha\e 
fully  declared  that  if  Philip  \vere  ten  times  to 
(lie.  it  would  not  inspire  you  Avith  the  hast 
degree  of  vigor.  AVhy.  then,  th;'se  embassies, 
these  accusations,  all  tliis  unnecessary  trouble  to 
us?""  If  they  should  say  this,  what  could  we 
allege?  what  answer  could  we  give?    I  know  not. 

We  have  those  among  us  who  think  a  speaker 
fully  confuted  by  asking,  "^Yhat,  then,  is  to  be 
done?"  To  whom  I  answer,  with  the  utmost 
truth  and  justness,  "Not  what  we  ai-e  now 
doing."  But  I  shall  be  inore  explicit  if  they  will 
be  as  ready  to  follow  as  to  ask  advice. 

First  then,  Athenians,  lie  firmly  convinced  of 
these  truths:  that  Phili])  do(^s  commit  hostilities 
against  us.  and  has  violaled  the  i~)eare  (and  let 
us  no  longer  accuse  each  other  of  his  crimes)  ; 
that  he  is  the  implacable  enemy  of  tliis  whole 
city,  of  the  ground  on  vrliich  this  city  stands. 
of  every  inhabitant  within  tluvse  walls,  even  of 
those  who  imagine  themselves  highest  in  his 
favor.  If  they  doubt  this,  ht  them  think  of 
Euthycrates  and  Last lienes. the  Olynthians.  They 
who  seemed  the  nearest  to  his  heart,  the  moment 
they  bc'trayed  their  country  we'-;;  distinguishixl 
only  by  the  superior  cruelty  of  their  death. 
I'^ut  it  is  against  our  constitution  that  his  arms 
are  7)rincipally  directed;  nor.  in  all  his  schemes, 
in  all  his  acti<-)ns,  has  he  anything  so  immediate^ 
ly  in  view  as  to  subveii  it.  And  there  is  some 
80T-t  of  a  nc,-('-.vity  for  1liis.  Tie  k-noVv's  full  well 
that  hi>  eoii.jie  :-,N,  howevi^r  great  and  e.\tensiv(\ 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

can  never  be  secure  while  you  continue  free; 
but  that,  if  once  he  meets  with  any  accident 
(and  every  man  is  subject  to  many),  all  those 
whom  he  has  forced  into  his  service  will  instantly 
revolt,  and  fly  to  you  for  protection ;  for  you  are 
not  naturally  disposed  to  grasp  at  empire  your- 
selves, but  to  frustrate  the  ambitious  attempts  of 
others;  to  be  ever  ready  to  oppose  usurpation, 
and  assert  the  liberty  of  mankind;  this  is  your 
peculiar  character.  And  therefore  it  is  not 
without  regret  that  he  sees  in  your  freedom  a 
spy  on  the  incidents  of  his  fortune.  Nor  is  this 
his  reasoning  weak  or  trivial. 

In  the  first  place,  therefore,  we  are  to  con- 
sider him  as  the  enemy  of  our  state,  the  impla- 
cable enemy  of  our  free  constitution.  Nothing 
but  the  deepest  sense  of  this  can  give  you  a 
true,  vigorous,  and  active  spirit.  In  the  next 
place,  be  assured  that  everything  he  is  now 
laboring,  everything  he  is  concerting,  he  is  con- 
certing against  our  city;  and  that  wherever  any 
man  opposes  him,  he  opposes  an  attempt  against 
these  walls ;  for  none  of  you  can  be  weak  enough 
to  imagine  that  Philip's  desires  are  centered  in 
those  paltry  villages  of  Thrace  (for  what  name 
else  can  one  give  to  Drongilus,  and  Cabj'le,  and 
Mastira,  and  all  those  places  he  is  now  reducing 
to  his  obedience?)  ;  that  he  endures  the  severity 
of  toils  and  seasons,  and  braves  the  utmost  dan- 
gers for  these,  and  has  no  designs  on  the  ports, 
and  the  arsenals,  and  the  navies,  and  the  silver 
mines,  and  all  the  other  revenues  of  Athens, 
132 


DEMOSTHENES 


but  that  lie  Avill  leave  llieni  for  you  to  enjoy; 
while  for  some  Avretehed  hoards  of  ccrain  in  the 
cells  of  Thrace  he  tal^es  u})  his  winter  quarters 
in  the  horrors  of  a  dungeon.  Impossible!  Xo: 
these  and  all  his  expeditions  are  really  intended 
to  facilitate  the  couquest  of  Athens. 

Let  us,  then,  approve  ourselves  men  of  wis- 
dom; and,  fully  pei-suaded  of  these  truths,  let 
us  shake  off  our  extrava<^ant  and  dangerous  su- 
pineness;  let  us  supply  the  necessary  expenses; 
let  us  call  on  our  allies;  let  us  take  all  possible 
measures  for  keeping  up  a  regular  army;  so 
that,  as  he  has  his  force  con.stantly  prepared 
to  injure  and  enslave  the  (j  reeks,  yours  too  may 
be  ever  ready  to  protect  and  assist  them.  If  you 
depend  on  occasional  detachments  you  cannot 
ever  expect  the  least  degree  of  success;  you  nuist 
keep  an  army  constantly  on  foot,  ])rovide  for 
its  maintenance,  ai)point  public  treasurers,  and 
by  all  possible  means  secnre  your  military  funds; 
and  while  these  oflieers  account  for  all  disbnrse- 
ments,  let  your  generals  be  bouiul  to  answer  for 
the  coTiduct  of  the  Avar.  Let  these  be  your 
measures,  th(>se  your  ri^solutions,  and  you  will 
comp(!l  Philip  to  live  in  iht;  real  observance  of 
an  equitabh^  ])('ac(%  and  to  confine  himself  to 
his  own  kingdom  (Avhich  is  most  i'or  our  inter- 
est;, or  W(;  shall  fight  him  on  ('(|u;il  trrms. 

If  any  man  lliink's  that  llic  measures  J  pro- 
pose will  rcrpiirc  great  expense,  and  he  attended 
with  nnich  toil  and  trouble,  he  thiuK's  juslly. 
Yet   let   him    consider   A\liat   consequcuces   must 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

attend  the  state  if  these  measures  be  neglected, 
and  it  will  appear  that  "\ve  shall  really  be  gain- 
ers by  engaging  heartily  in  this  cause.  Suppose 
some  god  should  be  our  surety  (for  no  mortal 
ought  to  be  relied  on  in  an  affair  of  such  mo- 
ment) that,  if  we  continue  quiet,  and  give  up 
all  our  interests,  he  will  not  at  last  turn  his 
arras  against  us;  it  w^ould  yet  be  shameful;  it 
would  (I  call  all  the  powers  of  Heaven  to  wit- 
ness!) be  unworthy  of  you,  unworthy  of  the 
dignity  of  your  country,  and  the  glory  of  your 
ancestors,  to  abandon  the  rest  of  Greece  to 
slavery  for  the  sake  of  private  ease.  I,  for  my 
part,  would  die  rather  then  propose  so  mean  a 
conduct :  however,  if  there  be  any  other  person 
who  will  recommend  it,  be  it  so ;  neglect  your 
defense ;  give  up  your  interests !  But  if  there 
ho  no  such  counselor ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  we 
all  foresee  that  the  farther  this  man  is  suffercni 
to  exlc'ud  his  conquests,  the  more  formidable  and 
powerful  enemy  we  must  find  in  him,  whj'  this 
reluctance?  why  do  we  delay?  or  w^hcn,  my 
countrymen,  will  we  perform  our  duty?  IMiist 
some  necessity  compel  us?  What  one  may  cal] 
the  necessity  of  freemen  not  only  presses  us  now, 
but  has  long  since  been  felt:  that  of  slaves,  it  is 
to  be  wished,  maj^  never  approach  us.  And  how 
do  these  differ?  To  a  freeman,  the  disgrace  of 
past  misconduct  is  the  most  urgent  necessity; 
to  a  slave  stripes  and  bodily  pains.  Far  bo  this 
from  us !     It  ought  not  to  be  mentioned. 

I  would  noAv  gladly  Iny  before  you  the  whole 

vn 


DEMOSTHENES 


conduct  of  certain  politicians;  bnt  I  spare  them. 
One  thiuir  only  1  shall  observe:  tlie  moment 
that  Philip  is  mentioned  there  is  still  one  ready 
to  start  up,  and  cry.  ''Wh;!t  a  happiness  to  live 
in  peace!  how  grrievous  tb.e  maintenance  of  a 
threat  army !  certain  persons  have  designs  on  our 
treasury!"    Thus   they   delay   their   resolutions,  j 

and  give  liim  full  libei-ty  to  act  as  he  pleases; 
lience  you  gain  ease  and  indulgence  for  the 
present  (which  I  fear  2uay  at  some  time  prove 
too  dear  a  purcliase)  ;  and  these  men  recommend 
themselves  to  your  favor,  and  are  well  paid  for 
their  service.  But  in  my  opinion  tlit^re  is  no 
need  to  persuade  you  to  ])eace,  who  sit  down 
already  thoroughly  persuaded.  Let  it  be  rec- 
ommended to  him  who  is  committing  hostilities; 
if  he  can  be  prevailed  on,  you  are  ready  to  eon- 
cur.  Nor  sliould  we  think  those  expenses  griev- 
ous which  our  security  requires,  but  the  con- 
sequences which  must  arise  if  such  expenses  be 
denied.  Then  as  to  plundei'ing  our  treasury; 
this  must  be  prevented  by  intrusting  it  to  pro])er 
guardians,  not  by  neglecting  our  affairs.  For 
my  own  part,  Athenians,  I  am  filled  witli  in- 
flignation  when  I  find  some  persons  expressing 
their  impatience,  as  if  our  treasures  were  ex- 
posed to  ])]under(-rs,  and  yet  utterly  unaffected 
at  the  pi'ogress  of  Philip,  who  is  successively 
plundering  every  state  of  (!r(MH'<';  and  this,  tiiat 
he  may  at  last  fall  with  all  his  fniy  on  you. 

Wliat.    tluMi.    can     !)i'    Vnr     7-easnn.    Alhctiians, 
I  hat.   nolb.v/ith.^tandimr  a!!    his   manifest  hostili- 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

ties,  all  his  acts  of  violence,  all  the  places  he 
has  taken  from  us,  these  men  will  not  acknowl- 
edge that  he  has  acted  unjustly,  and  that  he  is 
at  war  with  us,  but  accuse  those  of  embroiling 
you  in  a  war  who  call  on  you  to  oppose  him 
and  to  check  his  progress?  I  shall  tell  you. 
That  popular  resentment  which  may  arise  from 
any  disagreeable  circumstances  with  which  a  war 
may  be  attended  (and  it  is  necessary,  absolutely 
necessary  that  a  war  should  be  attended  with 
many  such  disagreeable  circumstances)  they 
v.'ould  cast  on  your  faithful  counselors,  that 
you  may  pass  sentence  on  them,  instead  of  op- 
posing Philip;  and  they  turn  accusers  instead 
of  meeting  the  punishment  due  to  their  present 
practises.  This  is  the  meaning  of  their  clamors 
that  certain  persons  would  involve  you  in  a 
war:  hence  have  they  raised  all  these  cavils 
and  debates.  I  know  full  well  that  before  any 
Athenian  had  ever  moved  you  to  declare  war 
against  him,  Philip  had  seized  many  of  our 
dominions,  and  has  now  sent  assistance  to  the 
Cardians.  If  you  are  resolved  to  dissemble  your 
sense  of  his  hostilities,  he  would  be  the  weakest 
of  mankind  if  he  attempted  to  contradict  you. 
But  suppose  he  marches  directly  against  us, 
what  shall  we  say  in  that  case?  He  will  still 
assure  us  that  he  is  not  at  war;  such  were  his 
professions  to  the  people  of  Oreum  when  his 
forces  were  in  the  heart  of  their  country;  and  to 
those  of  Phern?,  until  the  moment  that  he  at- 
tacked their  walls;  and  thus  he  at  first  amused 
136 


DEMOSTHENES 


the  Olynthians,  until  he  had  inarched  his  anny 
into  their  territory.  And  Avill  you  still  insist, 
even  in  such  a  case,  that  they  who  call  on  us 
to  defend  our  country  are  enihroiliiuj:  us  in  a 
war?  Then  slavery  is  inevita])le.  'Inhere  is  no 
other  mediuju  between  an  ohstinate  refusal  to 
take  arms  on  your  ]>art,  and  a  detei'niitu'd  res- 
olution to  attack'  us  on  the  piwt  of  our  enemy. 

Xor  is  the  daufj-er  whi.-h  threatens  us  the 
same  with  that  of  other  r>e(>[)]e.  Jt  is  not  the 
conquest  of  Athens  which  Philip  aims  at:  no, 
it  is  our  utter  extirpation.  He  Jaiows  full  well 
that  slavery  is  a  state  you  would  not,  or,  if  you 
were  inclined,  you  could  not  suhmit  to-,  for 
sovereiirnty  is  hecome  hahitual  to  you.  Xor  is 
he  i^srnorant  that,  at  any  unfavorable  juncture, 
you  have  more  ])ower  to  obstruct  his  (uiterprises 
than  the  whole  world  besides. 

Let  us  then  be  assured  that  we  are  cont(MulinG^ 
for  the  vpj-y  lieinfr  of  our  state;  let  this  iiispii-e 
us  with  abhorrence  of  those  who  liave  sold  tin ui- 
selves  to  this  man,  and  let  them  feel  the  severity 
of  public  justice;  for  it  is  not  ]')Ossi])le  to  eoii- 
(jiieT  our  foreiu'u  enemy  until  we  liave  puiiishi-d 
those  traitors  who  are  servin,<j:  h'uu  witiiiii  our 
walls.  Else,  while  we  strike  on  these  ;is  s.)  many 
obstacles,  our  enemies  must  neee<-;;n'ily  !>i'o\-e 
su[)erior  to  us.  -\ml  whence  is  it  tli.-it  he  d;)V'  s 
treat  you  with  insohuiee  f[  can  t;ot  l;!\'i'  his 
pj-esent  conduct  any  other  name)  ;  \\\,'\  lie  ult'i's 
menaces  afrainst  you.  while  on  oIIhts  he  coni'ers 
'icta  of  kindness  (lo  deceive  them  at  least,  if  for 
137 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

no  other  purpose)  ?  Thus,  by  heaping  favors 
on  tlie  Thessalians,  he  has  reduced  them  to  their 
present  slavery.  It  is  not  possible  to  recount 
tlie  various  artifices  by  which  he  abused  the 
wretched  Olynthians,  from  his  first  insidious  gift 
of  Potidffia.  But  now  he  seduced  the  Thebans  to 
his  party,  by  making  them  masters  of  Bceotia, 
and  easing  them  of  a  great  and  grievous  war. 
And  thus,  by  being  gratified  in  some  favorite 
point,  these  people  are  either  involved  in  calam.- 
ities  known  to  the  whole  world,  or  wait  with 
submission  for  the  moment  when  such  calamities 
are  to  fall  on  them.  I  do  not  recount  all  that 
you  yourselves  have  lost,  Athenians;  but  in  the 
very  conclusion  of  the  peace,  how  have  you  been 
deceived?  how  have  you  been  despoiled?  Was 
not  Phocis,  was  not  Thermopylae,  were  not  our 
Thracian  dominions,  Doriscum,  Serrium,  and 
even  our  ally  Cersobleptes,  all  wrested  from  us? 
Is  he  not  at  this  time  in  possession  of  Cardia? 
and  does  he  not  avow  it?  Whence  is  it,  I  say, 
that  he  treats  you  in  so  singular  a  manner? 
Because  ours  is  the  only  state  where  there  is 
allowed  full  libertj^  to  plead  the  cause  of  an 
enemy;  and  the  man  who  sells  his  country  may 
harangue  securely,  at  the  very  time  that  you 
are  despoiled  of  your  dominions.  It  was  not 
safe  to  speak  for  Philip  at  Olynthus  until  the 
people  of  Olynthus  had  been  gained  by  the  sur- 
render of  Potidffia.  In  Thessaly  it  was  not  safe 
to  speak  for  Philip  until  the  Thessalians  had 
been  gained  by  the  expulsion  of  the  tyrants  and 
138 


DEMOSTHENES 


the  recovery  of  their  rank  of  amphictyons;  iior 
eould  it  have  been  safely  attempted  at  Thelses 
before  he  had  restored  Bcpotia  and  extirpated 
the  Pliocians.  But  at  Athens,  altho  he  hath 
ri)bb(d  US  of  Amphipolis  and  the  territory  of 
(,'ardia ;  tho  he  awes  us  with  his  fortifications  in 
Kubcea;  tho  he  be  now  on  his  march  to  Byzan- 
tium; yet  his  partisans  may  speak  for  Philip 
without  any  danger.  Ilenee,  some  of  thejn,  from 
the  meanest  poverty,  have  on  a  sudden  risen  to 
aHkienee;  some,  from  obscurity  and  disgrace,  to 
eminence  and  honor;  while  yoi;,  on  the  con- 
trary, from  glory,  have  sunk  into  meanness; 
from  riches,  to  povei'ty;  for  the  riches  of  a  state 
r  take  to  be  its  allies,  its  credit,  its  connections, 
in  all  which  you  are  poor.  And  by  your  neg- 
lect of  these,  by  your  utter  insensibility  to  your 
wrongs,  he  is  become  fortunate  and  great,  the 
terror  of  Creeks  and  Barbarians;  and  you  aban- 
doned and  despised ;  splendid  indeed  in  the 
abundance  of  your  markets;  but  as  to  any  real 
provision  for  your  security,  ridiculously  defi- 
cient. 

There  are  some  orators,  I  find,  who  view  your 
interests  and  their  own  in  a  quite  different  light. 
They  would  persuade  you  to  continue  fiuiet, 
whatever  injuries  are  offered  to  you,  they  them- 
selves can  not  be  quiet,  tho  no  one  off"ers  them 
the  least  injury.  When  one  of  these  men  rises, 
I  am  sure  to  hear.  "What!  will  you  not  ])ropose 
your  deci-ee?  will  you  not  venture?  No;  you 
are  timid:  you  want  Inu'  spii-it."  1  own,  in- 
i:;;) 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

deed,  I  am  not,  nor  would  I  choose  to  be,  a  bold, 
an  importune,  an  audacious  speaker.  And  yet, 
if  I  mistake  not,  I  have  more  real  courage  than 
they  who  manage  your  affairs  with  this  rash 
hardiness.  For  he  who,  neglecting  the  public  in- 
terests, is  engaged  only  in  trials,  in  confiscations, 
in  rewarding,  in  accusing,  doth  not  act  from 
any  principle  of  courage,  but  as  he  never  speaks 
but  to  gain  your  favor,  never  proposes  measures 
that  are  attended  with  the  least  hazard ;  in  this 
he  has  a  pledge  of  his  security,  and  therefore  is 
he  daring.  But  he  who  for  his  country's  good 
oftentimes  opposes  your  inclinations;  who  gives 
the  most  salutary,  tho  not  always  the  most  agree- 
able counsel ;  who  pursues  those  measures  whose 
success  depends  more  on  fortune  than  on  pru- 
dence, and  is  yet  willing  to  be  accountable  for 
the  event ;  this  is  the  man  of  courage ;  this  is  the 
true  patriot:  not  they  who,  by  flattering  your 
passions,  have  lost  the  most  important  interests 
of  the  state — men  whom  I  am  so  far  from  imi- 
tating, or  deeming  citizens  of  worth,  that  should 
this  question  be  proposed  to  me,  "What  services 
have  you  done  your  country?"  tho  I  might  re- 
count the  galleys  I  have  fitted  out,  and  the  pub- 
lic entertainments  I  have  exhibited  and  the  con- 
tributions I  have  paid,  and  the  captives  I  have 
ransomed,  and  many  like  acts  of  benevolence,  I 
would  yet  pass  them  all  by,  and  only  say  that 
my  public  conduct  hath  ever  been  directly  oppo- 
site to  theirs.  I  might,  like  them,  have  turned 
accuser,  have  distributed  rewards  and  punish- 

140 


DEMOSTHENES 


lueiits ;  but  this  is  a  part  I  never  assumed ;  my 
inclinations  were  averse;  nor  could  wealth  or 
honors  prompt  me  to  it.  No;  I  confine  myself 
to  such  counsels  as  have  sunk  my  reputation ; 
but,  if  pursued,  must  raise  the  reputation  of  my 
country.  Thus  much  I  may  be  allowed  to  say 
without  exposing  myself  to  envy.  I  should  not 
have  thought  myself  a  good  citizen  had  I  pro- 
posed such  measures  as  would  have  made  me  the 
first  among  my  countrymen,  but  reduced  you  to 
the  last  of  states;  on  the  contrary,  the  faithful 
minister  should  raise  the  gloi-y  of  his  country, 
and  on  all  occasions  advise  the  most  salutary, 
not  the  easiest  measures.  To  these  nature  itself 
inclines;  those  are  not  to  be  promoted  but  by 
the  utmost  efforts  of  a  wise  and  faithful  coun- 
selor. 

I  have  heard  it  objected.  "That  indeed  I  ever 
speak  with  reason;  yet  still  this  is  no  more  than 
words — that  the  state  re( quires  something  more 
effectual,  some  vigorous  actions."  On  which  T 
shall  give  my  sentiments  without  the  least  re- 
serve. The  sole  business  of  a  speaker  is,  in  my 
opinion,  to  propose  the  course  you  are  to  pur- 
sue. This  were  easy  to  be  proved.  You  know 
that  when  the  great  Timotheus  moved  you  to 
defend  th(3  Euljo^ans  against  th(^  tyranny  of 
Thebes,  he  addressed  you  thus :  "What,  my  coun- 
trymen !  when  th(!  Thebans  are  actiuilly  in  the 
island,  are  you  deliberating  what  is  to  be  done? 
what  part  to  be  taken?  Will  you  not  cover  the 
seas  with  your  navies?    Why  are  you  not  at  the 

141 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

Piraeus?  why  are  you  not  embarked?"  Thus 
Timotheus  advised;  thus  you  acted,  and  success 
ensued.  But  had  he  spoken  with  the  same  spirit, 
and  had  your  indolence  prevailed,  and  his  ad- 
vice been  rejected,  would  the  state  have  had  the 
same  success  ?  By  no  means.  And  so  in  the  pres- 
ent case :  vigor  and  execution  is  your  part ;  from 
your  speakers  you  are  only  to  expect  wisdom  and 
integrity. 

I  shall  just  give  the  summary  of  my  opinion, 
and  then  descend.  You  should  raise  supplies ; 
you  should  keep  up  your  present  forces,  and  re- 
form whatever  abuses  may  be  found  in  them  (not 
break  them  entirely  on  the  first  complaint) .  You 
should  send  ambassadors  into  all  parts,  to  re- 
form, to  remonstrate,  to  exert  all  their  efforts 
in  the  service  of  the  state.  But,  above  all  things, 
let  those  corrupt  ministers  feel  the  severest  pun- 
ishment; let  them,  at  all  times,  and  in  all  places, 
be  the  objects  of  your  abhorrence :  that  wise  and 
faithful  counselors  may  appear  to  have  con- 
sulted their  own  interests  as  well  as  that  of 
others.  If  you  will  act  thus,  if  you  will  shake 
off  this  indolence,  perhaps,  even  yet,  perhaps, 
we  may  promise  ourselves  some  good  fortune. 
But  if  you  only  just  exert  yourselves  in  accla- 
mations and  applauses,  and  when -anything  is 
to  be  done  sink  again  into  your  supineness,  I  do 
not  see  how  all  the  wisdom  of  the  world  can 
save  the  state  from  ruin  when  you  deny  your 
assistance. 

142 


DEMOSTHENES 


III 
ON  THE  CROWN  ^ 

(330  B.C.) 

I  BEGIN,  men  of  Athens,  bj'  praying  to  every 
^od  and  goddess,  that  the  same  good  will,  which 
I  have  ever  cherished  toward  the  commonwealth 
and  all  of  you,  may  be  requited  to  me  on  the  pres- 
ent trial.  I  pray  likewise — and  this  specially 
concerns  yourselves,  your  religion,  and  your 
honor — that  the  gods  may  put  it  in  yv/ur  minds, 
not  to  take  counsel  of  my  opponent  touching  the 
manner  in  which  I  am  to  be  heard — that  would 
indeed  be  cruel ! — but  of  the  laws  and  of  your 
oatli:  wliorcin  ('besides  the  other  obligations)  it 
is  prescribed  that  you  shall  hear  both  sides  alike. 
This  means,  not  only  that  j'ou  must  pass  no  pre- 
condemnation, not  only  that  3-ou  must  extend 
your  good  will  equally  to  both,  but  also  that  you 
must  allow  the  parties  to  adopt  such  order  and 
course  of  defense  as  they  severally  choose  and 
prefer. 

]\Iany  advantages  hath  .Kschinc\s  over  me  on 
this  trial ;  and  two  especially,  men  of  Athens. 
First,  my  risk  in  the  contest  is  not  the  sairic.  It 
is  assuredly  not  the  same  for  lae  to  forfeit  your 
regard,  as  for  my  adv^^rsary  not  to  succeed  in  his 
indictment.     To  me — but  I  will  say  nothing  un- 

1  D»'Iiv>!red  in  Athens  330  B.C.  Translation  by  Charlps  R.  Ken- 
nedy. Ahridr/fd.  "T)!e  most  finished,"  says  R.  ('.  .TehV),  "the 
most  splendid  and  the  most  pathetic  work  of  ancient  eloquence." 

143 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

toward  at  the  outset  of  my  address.  The  prose- 
cution, however,  is  play  to  him.  My  second  dis- 
advantage is,  the  natural  disposition  of  mankind 
to  take  pleasure  in  hearing  invective  and  accusa- 
tion, and  to  be  annoyed  by  those  who  praise 
themselves.  To  JEschines  is  assigned  the  part 
which  gives  pleasure ;  that  which  is  (I  may  fairly 
say)  offensive  to  all,  is  left  for  me.  And  if,  to 
escape  from  this,  I  make  no  mention  of  what  I 
have  done,  I  shall  appear  to  be  without  defense 
against  his  charges,  without  proof  of  my  claims 
to  honor ;  whereas,  if  I  proceed  to  give  an  account 
of  my  conduct  and  measures,  I  shall  be  forced  to 
speak  frequently  of  myself.  I  will  endeavor  then 
to  do  so  with  all  becoming  modesty;  what  I  am 
driven  to  do  by  the  necessity  of  the  case,  will  be 
fairly  chargeable  to  m}'  opponent,  who  has  in- 
stituted such  a  prosecution. 

I  think,  men  of  the  jury,  you  will  all  agree 
that  I,  as  well  as  Ctesiphon,  am  a  party  to  this 
proceeding,  and  that  it  is  a  matter  of  no  less  con- 
cern to  me.  It  is  painful  and  grievous  to  be  de- 
prived of  anything,  especially  by  the  act  of  one 's 
enemy ;  but  your  good  will  and  affection  are  the 
heaviest  loss,  precisely  as  they  are  the  greatest 
prize  to  gain. 

Had  ^Eschines  confined  his  charge  to  the  sub- 
ject of  the  prosecution,  I  too  would  have  proceed- 
ed at  once  to  my  justification  of  the  decree.  But 
since  he  has  wasted  no  fewer  words  in  the  discus- 
sion of  other  matters,  in  most  of  them  calumni- 
ating me,  I  deem  it  both  necessary  and  just^  men 
114 


DEMOSTHENES 


of  Athens,  to  begin  by  shortly  adverting  to  these 
points,  that  none  of  you  may  be  indueed  by  ex- 
traneous arguments  to  shut  your  ears  against  my 
defense  to  the  indietineut. 

To  all  his  scandalous  abuse  of  my  private  life, 
observe  my  plain  and  honest  answer.  If  you  know 
me  to  be  such  as  he  alleged — for  I  have  lived  no- 
where else  but  among  you — let  not  my  voice  be 
heard,  however  transcendent  my  statesmanship! 
Rise  up  this  instant  and  condemn  me!  But  if,  in 
your  opinion  and  judgment,  I  am  far  better  and 
of  better  descent  than  my  adversary ;  if  (to  speak 
without  offense)  I  am  not  inferior,  I  or  mine,  to 
any  respectable  citizens;  then  give  no  credit  to 
him  for  his  other  statements — it  is  plain  they 
were  all  equally  fictions — but  to  me  let  the  same 
good  will,  wbich  you  have  uniformly  exhibited 
upon  many  former  trials,  be  manifested  now. 
With  all  your  malice,  ^Eschines,  it  was  very  sim- 
ple to  suppose  that  I  should  turn  from  the  dis- 
cussion of  measures  and  policy  to  notice  your 
scandal.  I  will  do  no  such  thing ;  I  am  not  so 
crazed.  Your  lies  and  calumnies  about  my  polit- 
ical life  I  will  examine  forthwith ;  for  that  loose 
ribaldry  I  shall  have  a  word  hereafter,  if  the 
jury  desire  to  hear  it. 

The  crimes  whcnof  I  am  accused  are  many 
and  grievous ;  for  some  of  them  the  laws  enact 
hea\y — most  severe  penalties.  The  scheme  of 
this  present  proceeding  includes  a  combination 
of  spiteful  insolence,  insult,  railing,  aspersion, 
and  everything  of  the  kind;  while  for  the  said 
145 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

charges  and  accusations,  if  they  were  true,  the 
state  has  not  the  means  of  inflicting  an  adequate 
punishment,  or  anything  like  it.  For  it  is  not 
right  to  debar  another  of  access  to  the  people  and 
privilege  of  speech;  moreover,  to  do  so  by  way  of 
malice  and  insult — by  heaven!  is  neither  honest, 
nor  constitutional,  nor  just.  If  the  crimes  which 
he  saw  me  committing  against  the  state  were  as 
heinous  as  he  so  tragically  gave  out,  he  ought 
to  have  enforced  the  penalties  of  the  law  against 
them  at  the  time ;  if  he  saw  me  guilty  of  an  im- 
peachable offense,  by  impeaching  and  so  bring- 
ing me  to  trial  before  you;  if  moving  illegal  de- 
crees, by  indicting  me  for  them.  For  surely,  if 
he  can  prosecute  Ctesiphon  on  my  account,  he 
would  not  have  forborne  to  indict  me  myself,  had 
he  thought  he  could  convict  me.  In  short,  what- 
ever else  he  saw  me  doing  to  your  prejudice, 
whether  mentioned  or  not  mentioned  in  his  cata- 
logue of  slander,  there  are  laws  for  such  things, 
and  punishments,  and  trials,  and  judgments. 
with  sharp  tind  severe  penalties;  all  of  which  he 
might  luive  (ufrr-u'd  against  me  ;  and  had  ha  done 
so — had  he  thns  pursued  the  proper  method  with 
me,  his  chcrgis  would  have  been  consistent  with 
his  conduct.  iVat  now  he  has  declined  the  straight- 
forward and  just  course,  avoided  all  proofs  of 
guilt  at  the  time,  and  after  this  long  interval 
gets  up,  to  play  his  part  withal,  a  heap  of  accu- 
sation, ribaldry  and  scandal.  Then  he  arraigns 
me.  but  prosecutes  the  defendant. 

What,    then,    were    tho    ^jtatements    made    by 

146 


DEMOSTHENES 


.Escliines,  through  which  everything  was  lost? 
That  you  shoiiki  not  be  alarmed  by  Philip's  hav- 
ing passed  Thermopyla'- — that  all  would  be  as 
you  desired,  if  you  kept  quiet ;  and  in  two  or 
three  days  yon  would  hear,  he  Avas  their  friend 
to  whom  he  had  come  as  an  eneniy.  and  that  their 
enemy  to  whom  he  had  come  as  a  friend — it  was 
not  words  that  cemented  attachments  (such  was 
his  solemn  phrase),  but  identity  of  interest;  and 
it  was  the  interest  of  all  alike.  Philip,  the 
Phocians,  and  you,  to  be  relievi^d  from  the  harsh- 
ness and  insolence  of  the  TlK-hans.  ITis  asser- 
tions were  heard  by  some  wi-h  pleasure,  on  ac- 
count of  the  hatred  which  then  subsisted  against 
the  Thebans.  But  what  happened  directly,  al- 
most innnediately  afterward?  The  wretched 
Phoeians  were  destroyed,  their  cities  demolished  ; 
you  that  kept  quiet,  and  trusted  to  ^Eschines, 
were  shortly  bringing  in  your  efll'ec^s  out  of  the 
country,  while  ^T^schines  received  gold:  and  yet 
more — while  you  got  nothing  but  your  enmity 
with  the  Thebans  ami  Thessalians,  Philip  won 
their  gratitude  for  \\liat  he  had  done. 

AVhen  you  had  been  deceived  by  Philip 
through  the  agency  of  these  men,  wdio  sold  them- 
selves in  the  embassies,  and  reported  not  a  word 
of  truth  to  you — when  the  unhappy  Phoeians 
had  boi'ii  (lei-eived  <ind  their  cities  destroyed — • 
what  follow!  vk'  The  despica])le  Thessalians  and 
,qtiil)ifl  'I1i.b;"Tis  loolrrd  on  I'liilip  as  a  friend,  a 
benefactor,  a  savior;  he  was  everything  with  them 
—not  a  syllable  woiiM  1hev  hear  from  any  one  to 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

the  contrary.  You,  tho  regarding  his  acts  with 
suspicion  and  anger,  still  observed  the  peace ;  for 
you  could  have  done  nothing  alone.  The  rest  of 
the  Greeks,  cheated  and  disappointed  like  your- 
selves, gladly  observed  the  peace,  tho  they  also 
had  in  a  manner  been  attacked  for  a  long  time. 
For  when  Philip  was  marching  about,  subduing 
Illyrians  and  Triballians  and  some  also  of  the 
Greeks,  and  gaining  many  considerable  acces- 
sions of  power,  and  certain  citizens  of  the  states 
(^Eschines  among  them)  took  advantage  of  the 
peace  to  go  there  and  be  corrupted;  all  people 
then,  against  whom  he  was  making  such  prepara- 
tions, were  attacked. 

If  they  perceived  it  not,  that  is  another  ques- 
tion, no  concern  of  mine.  I  was  forever  warning 
and  protesting,  both  at  Athens  and  wheresoever  I 
was  sent.  But  the  states  were  diseased ;  one  class 
in  their  politics  and  measures  being  venal  and 
corrupt,  while  the  multitude  of  private  men 
either  had  no  foresight,  or  were  caught  with  the 
bait  of  present  ease  and  idleness ;  and  all  were 
under  some  such  influence,  only  they  imagined 
each  that  the  mischief  would  not  approach  them- 
selves, but  that  by  the  peril  of  others  they  might 
secure  their  own  safety  when  they  chose.  The 
result,  I  fancy,  has  been  that  the  people,  in 
return  for  their  gross  and  unseasonable  indo- 
lence, have  lost  their  liberty ;  the  statesmen,  who 
imagined  they  were  selling  everything  but  them- 
selves, discovered  they  had  sold  themselves  first; 
for,  instead  of  friends,  as  they  were  named  dur- 
l-iS 


DEMOSTHENES 


ing  the  period  of  bribery,  they  are  now  called 
parasites,  and  misereants,  and  the  like  befitting 
names.  Justly.  For  no  man,  0  Athenians, 
spends  money  for  the  trait(n'"s  benefit,  or,  when 
he  has  got  possession  of  liis  purchase,  emplo}'s 
the  traitor  to  advise  him  in  future  proceedings; 
else  nothing  could  have  been  more  fortunate 
than  a  traitor.  But  it  is  not  so — it  never  could 
be — it  is  far  otherwise!  "When  the  aspirant  for 
power  has  gained  his  object,  he  is  master  also  of 
those  that  sold  it ;  and  then — then,  I  say,  knowing 
their  baseness,  he  loathes  and  mistrusts  and 
spurns  them. 

Consider  only — for,  tho  the  time  of  the  events 
is  past,  the  time  for  understanding  them  is  ever 
present  to  the  wise;  Lasthenes  was  called  the 
friend  of  Philip  for  a  while,  until  he  betrayed 
Olynthus — Tiniolaus  for  a  while,  until  he  de- 
stroyed Thebes — Eudicus  and  Sinuis  of  Larissa 
for  a  while,  until  they  brought  Thessaly  under 
Philip's  power.  Since  then  the  world  has  become 
full  of  traitors,  expelled  and  insulted,  and  suf- 
fering every  possible  cabumny.  il()v\'  fared  Aris- 
tratus  in  Sicyon?  how  Perilaiis  in  ]\legara  ?  Ari> 
they  not  outcasts?  Hence  one  may  evidently  see. 
it  is  the  vigilant  defender  of  his  country,  tlie 
strenuous  op])on('nt  of  su'-h  iiicn,  who  secures  to 
you  traitors  and  hirelings,  J'sdiines,  the  oppor- 
tunity of  getting  bribes:  through  the  innnl)er  of 
those  tluit  opposo  \-our  wishes,  you  are  in  safety 
and  in  j>;iy  :  for  }i;ii!  il  (Irpcudcd  on  youi'selves, 
you  would  have  prrishcd  long  ago. 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

Much  more  could  I  say  about  those  transac- 
tions, yet  methinks  too  much  has  been  said  al- 
ready. The  fault  is  my  adversary's,  for  having 
spirited  over  me  the  dregs,  I  may  say,  of  his  own 
wickedness  and  iniquities,  of  which  I  was  obliged 
to  clear  myself  to  those  who  are  younger  than 
the  events.  You,  too,  have  probably  been  dis- 
gusted, who  knew  this  man's  venality  before  I 
spoke  a  word.  He  calls  it  friendship  indeed ;  and 
said  somewhere  in  his  speech — "the  man  who 
reproaches  me  with  the  friendship  of  Alexan- 
der." I  reproach  you  with  friendship  of  Alex- 
ander! Whence  gotten,  or  how  merited?  Neither 
Philip's  friend  nor  Alexander's  should  I  ever 
call  you ;  I  am  not  so  mad — unless  we  are  to  call 
reapers  and  other  hired  laborers  the  friends  of 
those  that  hire  them.  That,  however,  is  not  so — 
how  could  it  be  ?  It  is  nothing  of  the  kind.  Phil- 
ip's  hireling  I  called  you  once,  and  Alexander's  I 
call  you  now.  So  do  all  these  men.  If  you  dis- 
believe me.  ask  them;  or  rather  I  will  do  it  for 
you.  Athenians!  is  iEschines,  think  ye  the  hire- 
ling, or  the  friend  of  Alexander  1  You  hear  what 
they  say ! 

Philip  started,  men  of  Athens,  with  a  great 
advantage.  It  happened  that  among  the  Greeks 
— not  some,  l)ut  all  alike— there  sprang  up  a  crop 
of  traitors  and  venal  wretches,  such  as  in  the 
memory  of  man  had  never  been  before.  Tlu-se 
he  got  for  his  agents  and  supporters :  tlie  Greel:s, 
already  ill-disposed  nnd  unfriendly  to  each  other, 
he  brought  into  a  still  wovae  state,  deceiving  this 


DEMOSTHENES 


people,  making  presents  to  that,  corrupting 
others  in  every  ^^•ay ;  and  he  split  them  into  many 
parties,  vdien  they  had  all  one  interest,  to  pre- 
vent his  aggrandizement.  AYhile  the  Greeks  were 
all  in  such  a  condition — in  such  ignorance  of  the 
gathering  and  growing  mischief— you  have  to 
consider,  iiwn  of  Athens,  what  policy  and  meas- 
ures it  became  the  commonwealth  to  adopt,  and 
of  this  to  receive  a  reckoning  from  me ;  for  the 
man  who  assumed  that  post  in  the  administra- 
tion was  I. 

But  I  return  to  the  question — AVliat  should 
the  commonwealth,  ^l^schines,  have  done,  when 
she  saw  Philip  establishing  an  empire  and  do- 
minion over  Greece?  Or  what  v.as  your  states- 
man to  advise  or  move? — I,  a  statesman  at 
Athens? — for  this  is  most  material — I  Avho  knew 
tliat  from  the  earliest  time  until  the  day  of  my 
own  mounting  the  platform,  our  country  had 
ever  striven  for  precedency  and  honor  and  re- 
nown, and  expended  more  blood  and  treasure  for 
the  sake  of  glory  and  the  general  weal  than  th(> 
rest  of  the  Greeks  had  expended  on  their  several 
interests? — who  saw  that  Philip  hi^iiself,  with 
-whom  we  were  ccmtending,  had,  in  the  strife  for 
power  and  empirr\  had  his  eye  cut  out,  his  collar- 
bone fractured,  his  hand  and  leg  mutilated,  and 
was  ready  and  willing  to  sacrifice  any  part  of  his 
body  that  fortune  chose  to  take,  provided  he 
could  live  with  iho  remainder  in  honor-  and 
glory?  Hardly  will  any  one  viMitiire  to  say  this — 
that  it  became  a  man  i)tv,l  ;it  l^>lla.  then  an  ob- 
151 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

scure  and  inconsiderable  place,  to  possess  such 
inborn  magnanimity,  as  to  aspire  to  the  mastery 
of  Greece  and  form  the  project  in  his  mincl, 
while  you,  who  were  Athenians,  day  after  day  in 
speeches  and  in  dramas  reminded  of  the  virtue 
of  your  ancestors,  should  have  been  so  naturally 
base,  as  of  your  own  free  will  and  accord  to  sur- 
render to  Philip  the  liberty  of  Greece.  No  man 
will  say  this ! 

The  only  course  then  that  remained  was  a  just 
resistance  to  all  his  attacks  upon  you.  Such 
course  you  took  from  the  beginning,  properly 
and  becomingly;  and  I  assisted  by  motions  and 
counsels  during  the  period  of  my  political  life: — 
I  acknowledge  it.  But  vchat  should  I  have  done? 
Was  it  meet  that  any  of  the  Greeks  should  rise 
up  to  prevent  these  proceedings,  or  not?  If  not 
— if  Greece  was  to  present  the  spectacle  (as  it  is 
called)  of  a  Mysian  prey,  while  Athenians  had 
life  and  being,  then  I  have  exceeded  my  duty  in 
speaking  on  the  subject — the  commonwealth  has 
exceeded  her  duty,  A\-hich  followed  my  counsels — • 
I  admit  that  every  measure  has  been  a  misdeed,  a 
blunder  of  min(\  But  if  some  one  ought  to  have 
arisen  to  prevent  these  things,  who  but  the 
Athenian  people  should  it  have  been  ?  Such  then 
was  the  policy  which  I  espoused.  I  saw  him  re- 
ducing all  men  to  subjection,  and  I  opposed  him; 
I  continued  warning  and  exhorting  you  not  to 
make  these  sacrifices  to  l^'hilip. 

When  Philip  therefore  was  driven  out  of  Euba^a, 
with  arms  by  you,  v.ith  cuunsels  and  decrees — 
1J2 


DEMO  STHENES 


tho  some  persons  there  should  burst ! — by  me, 
he  sought  some  new  position  of  attack  upon 
Athens.  Seeing'  tiiai  wi'  use  more  foreign  corn 
thnn  any  pec^ple,  and  wishing  to  connnand  tlie 
l-assage  of  the  corn-trade,  he  advanced  to  Thrace  ; 
the  Byzantines  being  his  allies,  he  first  required 
them  to  join  in  the  war  against  yon,  and  when 
they  refused,  saying  (truly  enough)  that  they 
had  not  made  alliance  on  such  terms,  he  threw  up 
intrenclunents  before  the  city,  planted  batteries, 
and  laid  siege  to  it.  What  course  hereupon  it 
became  you  to  take,  I  will  not  ask  again ;  it  is 
manifest  to  all.  But  who  was  it  that  succored 
the  Byzantines,  and  rescued  them  1  who  pre- 
vented the  alienation  of  the  ITellespont  at  that 
crisis?  You,  men  of  Athens.  When  I  say  you,  I 
mean  the  commonwealth.  But  who  ndvised, 
framed,  executed  the  measures  of  state,  devoted 
himself  wholly  and  unreservedly  to  tho  public 
business? — TI — AVhat  l)enefits  tli('nc(>  accrued  to 
all,  you  need  no  furtln^r  to  Ix'  told:  y(.'U  have 
learned  by  experience.  For  tln'  wnr  v/liidi  then 
sprang  up,  l)(^sid(\s  that  it  brought  honor  and 
renown,  k'cpt  you  in  a  chr'aper  and  mon^  plenti- 
ful sup])ly  of  all  th(.'  necessaries  tA'  life  Hian  does 
the  present  peace,  which  these  wortliu^s  main- 
tain to  their  country's  ]n'e.iu<!ie(^  i?)  the  hope  of 
somethinLT  to  come.  Pei'ish  such  hon.'l  Xevef 
nuay  they  share  the  blessings  for  wliich  you  mm 
of  honest  wishes  pray  to  the  go.ls,  or  eonnnuni- 
cat<'  their  own  principles  to  you  ! 

Thus  tho  savin'^'  of   ni^'i-sonesus  and  Byzan- 
1,"3 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

tium,  the  preventing  Philip's  conquest  of  the 
Hellespont,  and  the  honors  therefore  bestowr  M 
on  this  country,  were  the  effects  of  my  policy  and 
administration  :  and  more  than  this — they  proved 
to  all  mankind  the  generosity  of  Athc^ns  and  th^ 
baseness  of  Philip.  He,  the  ally  and  friend  of 
the  Byzantines,  was  before  all  eyes  besieging 
them — -what  could  be  more  shameful  or  outra- 
geous?— You,  who  might  justly  on  many  grounds 
have  reproached  them  for  wrongs  done  you  in 
former  times,  instead  of  bearing  malice  and 
abandoning  the  oppressed,  appeared  as  their  de- 
liverers ;  conduct  which  procured  you  glory, 
good-will,  honors  from  all  men.  That  you  have 
crowned  many  of  your  statesmen,  every  one 
knowB;  but  through  what  other  person  (I  mean 
what  minister  or  orator),  besides  myself,  the 
commonwealth  has  been  crowned,  no  one  can  say. 
Well  then,  men  of  Athens — when  the  Lacedae- 
monians had  the  empire  of  land  and  sea,  and  held 
the  country  round  Attica  by  governors  and  gar- 
risons, Euboca.  Tanayra,  all  Bceotia,  ]\Iegara, 
^-Egina,  Cleona?,  the  other  islands  ;  when  our  state 
possessed  neither  ships  nor  walls;  you  marched 
out  to  Haliartus,  and  again  not  many  days  after 
to  Corinth;  albeit  the  Athenians  of  that  time 
had  many  causes  of  resentment  against  both 
Corinthians  and  Thebans  for  their  acts  in  the 
Decelean  war;  but  they  showed  no  resentm.ent, 
none.  And  yet  neither  of  these  steps  took  they. 
yEschines,  for  benefactors,  nor  were  they  blind 
to  the  danger ;  but  they  would  not  for  such  rea- 


DEMOSTHENES 


sons  abandon  people  who  sought  their  protec- 
tion ;  for  the  sake  of  renown  and  glory  they 
willingly  exposed  themselves  to  peril;  just  and 
noble  was  their  resolve !  For  to  all  mankind  the 
end  of  life  is  death,  tho  one  keep  one's  self  shut 
up  in  a  closet ;  but  it  becomes  brave  men  to  strive 
always  for  honor,  with  good  hope  before  them, 
and  to  endure  courageously  whatever  the  Deity 
ordains. 

Thus  did  your  ancestors,  thus  the  elder  among 
yourselves.  For,  tho  the  Lacedeemonians  were 
neither  friends  nor  benefactors,  but  had  done 
many  grievous  injuries  to  our  state,  yet  when 
the  Thebans,  victorious  at  Leuctra,  sought  their 
destruction,  you  prevented  it,  not  fearing  the 
power  and  reputation  then  possessed  by  the  The- 
bans, nor  reckoning  np  the  merits  of  those  whom 
you  were  about  to  fight  for.  And  so  you  demon- 
strated to  all  the  Greeks,  that,  however  any  peo- 
ple may  offend  you,  you  reserve  your  anger 
against  them  for  other  occasions ;  but  should  their 
existence  or  liberty  be  imperiled,  you  will  not 
resent  your  wrongs  or  bring  them  into  account. 

I  must  return  to  the  next  in  date  of  my  polit- 
ical acts ;  and  here  again  consider  what  was  most 
beneficial  for  the  state.  I  saw,  men  of  Athens, 
that  your  navy  was  decaying,  and  that,  while  the 
rich  were  getting  off  with  small  payments,  citi- 
zens of  moderate  or  small  fortunes  were  losing 
thfir  substance,  and  the  state,  by  reason  thereof, 
missing  her  opportunities  of  action.  T.  therefore, 
proposed  a  law,  by  whi(!h  I  compelled  the  one 
-ir>-> 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

class  (the  rich)  to  perform  their  duty,  and 
stopped  the  oppression  of  the  poor;  and — what 
was  most  useful  to  the  country — I  caused  her 
preparations  to  be  made  in  time.  And  being  in- 
dicted for  it,  I  appeared  on  the  charge  before 
you,  and  was  acquitted;  and  the  prosecutor  did 
not  get  his  portion  of  the  votes.  But  what  sums, 
think  ye,  the  chief  men  of  the  boards,  or  those  in 
the  second  and  third  degrees,  offered  me,  first, 
not  to  propose  that  law,  secondly,  when  I  had 
recorded  it,  to  drop  it  on  the  abatement-oath? 
Such  sums,  men  of  Athens,  as  I  should  be  afraid 
to  tell  you.  And  no  wonder  they  did  so;  for 
under  the  former  laws  they  might  divide  the 
charge  between  sixteen,  spending  little  or  noth- 
ing themselves,  and  grinding  down  the  needy 
citizens ;  whereas  under  my  law  every  one  had  to 
pay  a  sum  proportioned  to  his  means,  and  there 
was  a  captain  for  two  ships,  where  before  there 
was  a  partner  with  fifteen  others  for  one  ship ; 
for  they  were  calling  themselves  not  captains  any 
longer,  but  partners.  They  would  have  given 
anything  to  get  these  regulations  annulled,  and 
not  be  obliged  to  perform  their  duties. 

Why  then,  wretched  man,  do  you  play  the  pet- 
tifogger? Why  manufacture  arguments?  Why 
don't  you  take  hellebore'  for  your  malady?  Are 
you  not  ashamed  to  bring  on  a  cause  for  spite, 
and  not  for  any  offense  ?— to  alter  some  laws,  and 
to  garble  others,  the  whole  of  which  should  in 

1  Hellebore,  tho  a  poison,  was  used  by  the  Greeks  in  mild  doses 
to  clear  the  brain  and  cure  insanity. 
156 


DEMOSTHENES 


justice  be  read  to  persons  sworn  to  decide  accord- 
ing to  the  laws  ?  And  you  that  act  thus  describe 
the  qualities  which  belong  to  a  friend  of  the  peo- 
ple, as  if  you  had  ordered  a  statue  according  to 
contract,  and  received  it  without  having  what 
the  contract  required;  or  as  if  friends  of  the 
people  were  known  by  words,  and  not  by  acts 
and  measures !  And  you  bawl  out,  regardless  of 
decency,  a  sort  of  cart-language,  applicable  to 
yourself  and  your  race,  not  to  me. 

Again,  men  of  Athens — I  conceive  abuse  to  dif- 
fer from  accusation  in  this,  that  accusation  has 
to  do  with  offenses  for  which  the  laws  provide 
penalties,  abuse  with  the  scandal  which  enemies 
speak  against  each  other  according  to  their  hu- 
mor. And  I  believe  your  ancestors  built  these 
courts,  not  that  we  should  assemble  you  here 
and  bring  forth  the  secrets  of  private  life  for 
mutual  reproach,  but  to  give  us  the  means  of  con- 
victing persons  guilty  of  crimes  against  the  state, 
^schines  knew  this  as  well  as  I,  and  yet  he  chose 
to  rail  rather  than  to  accuse. 

Even  in  this  way  he  must  take  as  nuich  as  he 
gives;  but  before  I  enter  upon  such  matters, 
lot  me  ask  him  one  question — Should  one  call 
you  the  state's  enemy,  or  mine,  yEschines?  ^lint^ 
of  course.  Yet,  where  you  might,  for  any  (iirctise. 
which  I  committed,  have  obtained  s;ii  isi'.-ic- 
tion  for  the  people  according  to  the  l;nvs.  M'M 
neglected  it — at  the  audit,  on  the  iiulict  menis 
and  other  trials;  but  wliere  T  in  my  own  peixm 
am  safe  on  every  accounl,  liy  fhe  laws,  l>\'  !:mc, 
157 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

by  prescription,  by  many  previous  judgments 
on  every  point,  by  my  never  liaving  been  con- 
victed of  a  public  offense — and  where  the  coun- 
try must  share,  more  or  less,  in  the  repute  of 
measures  wnich  were  her  own — hi^re  it  is  you 
have  encountered  me.  See  if  you  are  not  the 
people's  enemy,  while  you  pretend  to  be  mine! 
I  am  at  no  loss  for  materials  concerning  you 
and  your  family,  but  am  in  doubt  what  to  men- 
tion first — whether  how  your  father  Tromes,  be- 
ing servant  to  Elpias,  who  kept  a  reading-school 
in  the  temple  of  Theseus,  wore  a  weight  of  fetters 
and  a  collar ;  or  how  your  mother,  by  her  morn- 
ing spousals  in  the  cottage  by  Hero  Calamites, 
reared  up  you,  the  beautiful  statue,  the  eminent 
third-rate  actor ! — But  all  know  these  things 
without  my  telling — Or  how  the  galley-piper 
Phormio,  the  slave  of  Dion  of  Phrearrii,  removed 
her  from  that  honorable  employment.  But,  by 
Jupiter  and  the  gods !  I  fear,  in  saying  what  ii'^ 
proper  about  you,  I  may  be  thought  to  have 
chosen  topics  unbecoming  to  myself.  All  this 
therefore,  I  shall  pass  by,  and  commence  with 
the  acts  of  his  own  life ;  for  indeed  he  came  not 
of  eomm.on  parents,  but  of  such  as  are  execrated 
by  the  people.  Very  lately — lately  do  I  say? — 
it  is  but  yesterday  that  he  has  become  both  an 
Athenian  and  an  orator — adding  two  syllables, 
he  converted  his  father  from  Tromes  to  Atro- 
metus,  and  dignified  his  mother  by  the  name  of 
Glaucothea,  who  (as  every  one  knows)  was  called 
158 


DEMOSTHENES 


Empusa^:  having  got  that  title  (it  is  pLain)  from 
her  doing  and  submitting  to  anything — how  else 
could  she  have  got  it '?  However,  you  are  so  un- 
grateful and  wicked  by  nature,  that  after  being 
raised  through  the  people  from  servitude  to  free- 
dom, from  beggary  to  affluence,  instead  of  return- 
ing their  kindness,  yon  work  against  them  as  a 
hireling  politician. 

That  he  should  cooperate  openly  with  Philip 
before  the  war,  was  shocking — 0  heaven  and 
earth!  could  it  be  otherwise? — against  his  coun- 
try !  Yet  allow  him  if  you  please,  allow  him  this. 
But  when  the  ships  had  openly  been  made  prize, 
Chersonesus  wjs  ravaged,  the  man  was  march- 
ing against  Attica,  matters  were  no  longer  doubt- 
ful, war  had  begun — nothing  that  he  ever 
did  for  you  can  this  malicious  iambic-mouther 
show — not  a  resolution  has  ^Eschines,  great  or 
small,  concerning  the  interests  of  the  state.  If 
he  asserts  it.  let  him  prove  it  now  while  my 
waterglass^  is  runniiit!:.  P'Ut  thei-e  is  none.  He 
is  reduced  to  an  alternative: — either  he  had  no 
fault  to  find  v.ith  vav  measures,  and  therefore 
moved  none  against  tlici?! ;  or  he  sought  the  good 
of  the  enemy,  and  therefore  would  not  propose 
any  better. 

'  Ttiis  denotes  n  fri;rlitf;il  sni-eter  or  liohfrobliii.  Acnorilinfr  fo 
Aristophanes  (Frogs.  2^Z}  it  could  change  itself  into  various  shapes. 
—Kennedy. 

'  The  Athenians,  to  prevent  the  parties  from  sayinj^  more  than 
was  n"'C(_'ssary,  timed  them  by  a  glass  in  wliicli  water  trickled 
th.'i-igli  a  uarr'iw   tube  like  sand  in  one  of  our  minute  kIussps.— 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

Did  he  abstain  from  speaking  as  well  as  mov- 
ing, when  any  mischief  was  to  be  done  to  youl 
Why,  no  one  else  could  speak  a  word.  Other 
things,  it  appears,  the  country  could  endure,  and 
he  could  accomplish  without  detection :  but  one 
last  act  he  achieved,  0  Athenians,  which  crowned 
all  he  had  done  before ;  on  which  he  lavished  that 
multitude  of  words,  recounting  the  decrees 
against  the  Amphissian  Locrians,  in  hopes  of  dis- 
torting the  truth.  But  the  thing  admits  it  not. 
No !  never  will  you  wash  A^ourself  clean  from 
your  performances  there — talk  as  long  as  you 
will ! 

In  your  presence,  men  of  Athtus,  I  invoke  all 
the  gods  and  goddesses  to  whom  the  Attic  terri- 
tory belongs,  and  Pythian  Apollo  the  Father-god 
of  our  state ;  and  I  implore  them  all !  As  I  shall 
declare  the  truth  to  you,  as  I  declared  it  in  your 
assembly  at  the  time,  the  very  moment  I  saw  this 
wretch  putting  his  hand  to  the  work — for  I  per- 
ceived, instantly  perceived  it — so  may  they  grant 
me  favor  and  protection  !  If  from  malice  or  per- 
sonal rivalry  I  bring  a  falso  charge  against  my 
opponent,  may  they  cut  me  off  from  every  bless- 


ing 


But  wherefore  this  imprecation,  this  solemn 
assurance?  Because,  tho  I  have  documeiits  ly- 
ing in  the  public  archives,  from  which  I  shall 
clearly  prove  my  assertions,  tho  I  know  you 
remember  the  facts,  I  fear  this  man  may  be  con- 
sidered unecjual  to  the  mischiefs  which  he  has 
wrought;  as  before  happened,  when  he  caused 
160 


DEMOSl^HENES 


the  destruction  of  the  unhappy  Phocians  by  his 
false  reports  to  you. 

The  Amphissian  War,  I  say — which  brought 
Philip  to  Elatea,  which  caused  him  to  be  chosen 
general  of  the  Aniphictyons,  which  ruined 
everything  in  Greece — was  this  man's  contri- 
vance. He  is  the  single  author  of  all  our  heaviest 
calamities.  I  protested  at  the  time,  and  cried 
out  in  the  assembly — "You  are  bringing  a  war, 
^l^^schines,  into  Attica,  an  Amphietyonic  war" — 
but  his  i^acked  party  would  not  let  me  be  heard; 
the  rest  wondered,  and  supposed  that  I  was 
bringing  an  idle  charge  against  him  out  of  per- 
sonal enmity.  However,  the  real  character  of 
those  transactions,  the  purpose  for  which  they 
were  got  up.  the  manner  in  which  they  were  ac- 
complished. h'>ar  ye  now,  men  of  Athens,  as  ye 
were  prevented  then.  You  will  see  that  the  thing 
was  well  concerted,  and  it  will  help  you  much 
to  gi't  a  knowledge  of  public  affairs,  and  what 
craftiness  there  was  in  Philip  you  will  observe. 

Philip  could  ncillier  finish  nor  get  rid  of  the 
vvar  with  Athens,  unless  he  made  the  Thebans 
and  Thessalians  Iht  enemies.  Tho  your  gen- 
erals fought  against  him  without  fortune  or  skill, 
yet  j'rom  the  war  itself  and  the  cruisers  he  suf- 
fered infinite  daniag<\  lie  could  neither  export 
any  of  the  ]:»rodu('e  of  liis  country,  nor  import 
what  he  needed,  lie  vas  not  then  superior  to 
you  at  sea,  nor  able  to  reach  Attica,  unless  the 
Tlicssalians  followed  him  and  the  ThelKUis  gave 
him  a  passage;  so  that,  while  he  overcame  in  war 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

the  generals  whom  you  sent  out — such  as  they 
were — I  sa}^  nothing  about  that — he  found  him- 
self distressed  by  the  difference  of  your  local 
position  and  means.  Should  he  urge  either  Thcs- 
salians  or  Thebans  to  march  in  his  own  quarrel 
against  you,  none,  he  thought,  would  attend  lo 
him :  but  should  he,  under  the  pretense  of  taking 
up  their  common  cause,  be  elected  general,  he 
tinisted  partly  by  deceit  and  partly  by  persuj;- 
sion  to  gain  his  ends  more  easily.  lie  sets  to 
work  therefore — observe  liow  cleverly — to  get  the 
Amphictyons  into  a  war,  and  create  a  disturb- 
ance in  the  congress.  For  this  he  thought  they 
would  immediately  want  him.  Now,  if  any  of 
the  presbyters  commissioned  by  himself  or  any 
of  his  allies  brought  it  forward,  he  imagined 
that  both  Thebans  and  Thessalians  would  sus- 
pect the  thing,  and  would  all  be  on  their  guard ; 
whereas,  if  the  agent  were  an  Athenian  and  com.- 
missioned  by  you  his  opponents,  it  would  easily 
pass  unnoticed.     An  thus  it  turned  out. 

How  did  he  effect  his  purpose  ?  He  hires  the 
prosecutor.  No  one  (I  believe)  was  aware  of  the 
thing  or  attending  to  it,  and  so — just  as  these 
things  are  usually  done  at  Athens — -^Esehines 
was  proposed  for  Pylajan  deputy,  three  or  fonr 
held  up  their  hands  for  hiin,  and  his  election  was 
declared.  AVhen  clothed  with  the  dignity  of  the 
state  he  arrived  among  the  Amphictyons,  dis 
missing  and  disregarding  all  besides,  he  hastened 
to  execute  what  he  was  hired  for.  ITe  makes  up 
a  pretty  speech  and  story,  showing  how  the  Cir- 
162 


DEMOSTHENES 


rhffian  plain  came  to  be  consecrated ;  reciting  this 
to  the  presbyters,  men  unused  to  speeches  and 
unsuspicious  of  any  consequences. 

The  mention  of  this  man's  treasonable  acts 
brings  me  to  the  part  which  I  have  myself  taken 
in  opposition  to  him.  It  is  fair  you  should  hear 
my  account  of  it  for  many  reasons,  but  chiefly, 
men  of  Athens,  because  it  would  be  a  shame, 
when  I  have  undergone  the  toil  of  exertions  on 
your  behalf,  that  you  should  not  endure  the  bare 
recital  of  them. 

When  I  say  that  the  Thebans,  and  I  may  add 
the  Athenians,  were  so  led  away  by  Philip 's  par- 
tizans  and  the  corrupt  men  of  either  state,  as  to 
disregard  and  take  no  precaution  against  a 
danger  which  menaced  both,  and  required  the 
utmost  precaution  (I  mean  the  suffering  Philip's 
power  to  increase),  and  were  readily  disposed  to 
enmity  and  strife  with  each  other;  I  was  con- 
stantly watchful  to  i)revent  it,  not  only  because 
in  my  own  judgment  I  deemed  such  vigilance 
expedient,  but  knowing  that  Aristophon,  and 
again  Eubulus,  had  all  along  desired  to  bring 
about  that  union,  and,  while  they  were  frequently 
opposed  upon  other  matters,  were  always  agreed 
upon  this.  ]\Ien  whom  in  their  lifetime — you 
reptile! — you  pestered  with  flattery,  yet  see  not 
that  you  are  ac(;using  them  in  their  graves :  for 
the  Thcban  policy  that  you  reproach  me  with  is 
a  charge  less  affecting  me  than  them,  who  ap- 
proved that  alliance  before  I  did.  But  I  must 
return. — I  say,  when  .Kschiues  had  excited  the 
163 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

war  in  Amphissa,  and  his  coadjutors  had  helped 
to  establish  enmity  with  Thebes,  Philip  marched 
against  us— that  was  the  object  for  which  these 
persons  embroiled  the  states — and  had  we  not 
roused  up  a  little  in  time,  we  could  never  have  re- 
covered ourselves :  so  far  had  these  men  carried 
matters. 

Now,  ^schines,  how  would  you  have  me  de- 
scribe you,  and  how  myself,  upon  that  day? 
Shall  I  call  myself  Batalus,  your  nickname  of 
reproach,  and  you  not  even  a  hero  of  the  common 
sort,  but  one  of  those  upon  the  stage,  Cresphontes 
or  Creon,  or  the  CEnomaus  whom  you  execrably 
murdered  once  at  Colyttus?  Well;  upon  that 
occasion  I  the  Batalus  of  P^eania  was  more  serv- 
iceable to  the  state  than  you  the  CEnomaus  cf 
CothocidaB.  You  were  of  no  earthly  use;  I  did 
everything  which  became  a  good  citizen. 

Had  I  attempted  to  say,  that  I  instructed  you 
in  sentiments  worthy  of  your  ancestors,  there  is 
not  a  man  who  would  not  justly  rebuke  me. 
What  I  declare  is,  that  such  principles  are  your 
own ;  I  show  that  before  my  tim.e  such  was  the 
spirit  of  the  commonwealth ;  tho  certainly  in 
the  execution  of  the  particular  measures  I  claim 
a  share  also  for  myself.  The  prosecutor,  ar- 
raigning the  whole  x^roceedings,  and  embittering 
you  against  me  as  the  cause  of  our  alarms  and 
dangers,  in  his  eagerness  to  deprive  me  of  honor 
for  the  moment,  robs  you  of  the  eulogies  that 
should  endure  for  ever.  Fivr  should  you,  under 
a  disbelief  in  the  Vvisdom  of  my  policy  convict 
16i 


DEMOSTHENES 


the  defendant,  you  will  appear  to  have  done 
wrong  not  to  have  suffered  what  befel  you  by 
the  cruelty  of  fortune.  But  never,  never  can  you 
have  done  wrong,  0  Athenians,  in  undertaking 
the  battle  for  the  freedom  and  safet}^  of  all !  I 
swear  it  by  your  forefathers — those  that  met  the 
peril  at  Marathon,  those  that  took  the  field  at 
PlatEea,  those  in  the  sea-fight  at  Salamis,  and 
those  at  Artemisium,  and  many  other  brave  men 
who  repose  in  the  public  monuments,  all  of  whom 
alike,  as  being  worthy  of  the  same  honor,  the 
country  buried,  ^schines,  not  only  the  success- 
ful or  victorious!  Justly!  For  th':^  duty  of 
brave  men  has  been  done  by  all :  thrir  fortune 
has  been  such  as  the  Deity  assigned  to  each. 

Accursed  scribbler !  you,  to  deprive  me  of  the 
approbation  and  affection  of  my  countrymeu, 
speak  of  trophies  and  battles  and  ancient  deeds, 
with  none  of  which  had  this  present  trial  th" 
least  concern;  but  I! — 0  you  third-rate  actor! — 
I,  that  rose  to  counsel  the  state  how  to  maintain 
h-r  preeminence !  in  what  spirit  was  I  to  mount 
the  hustings?  In  the  spirit  of  one  having  un- 
worthy counsel  to  offer? — T  should  luivf.'  deserved 
to  perish !  You  yourselves,  men  of  Athens,  may 
not  try  priv.'ste  and  public  causes  on  lh(^  same 
prinfir>l<'S  :  the  compacts  of  every-(!;iy  Jife  you 
Jiri'  to  judye  of  by  ])artj;'u]ar  laws  aud  circum- 
stances; 11k'  moMsurcs  d'  statccv.-'n,  ly  refer- 
I'ncc  to  til"  diu'uity  of  your  au'-cslors.  And 
if  you  tliinlc  it  your  duly  to  act  woi'tluly  of  them, 
you  should  every  one  of  you  consider,  when  you 
16-5 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

come  into  court  to  decide  public  questions,  that 
together  with  your  staff  and  ticket  the  spirit  of 
the  commonwealth  is  delivered  to  you. 

Athenians,  you  have  had  many  great  and  re- 
nowned orators  before  me;  the  famous  Callis- 
tratus,  Aristophon,  Cephalus,  Thrasybulus,  hun- 
dreds of  others,  yet  none  of  them  ever  thoroughly 
devoted  himself  to  any  measure  of  state :  for  in- 
stance, the  mover  of  a  resolution  would  not  be 
ambassador;  the  ambassador  would  not  move  a 
resolution ;  each  one  left  for  himself  some  relief, 
and  also,  should  anything  happen,  an  excuse. 
How  then — it  may  be  said — did  you  so  far  sur- 
pass others  in  might  and  boldness  as  to  do  every- 
thing yourself?  I  don't  say  that:  but  such 
was  my  conviction  of  the  danger  impending  over 
us,  that  I  considered  it  left  no  room  or  thought 
for  individual  security ;  a  man  should  have  been 
only  too  happy  to  perform  his  duty  without  neg- 
lect. As  to  myself  I  was  persuaded,  perhaps 
foolishly,  yet  I  was  persuaded,  that  none  would 
move  better  resolutions  than  myself,  none  would 
execute  them  better,  none  as  ambassador  would 
show  more  zeal  and  honesty.  Therefore  I  under- 
took every  duty  myself. 

Through  my  policy,  vrhieh  he  arraigns,  instead 
of  the  Thebans  invading  this  country  with 
Philip,  as  all  expected,  they  joined  our  ranks  and 
prevented  him; — instead  of  the  war  being  in 
Attica,  it  took  place  seven  hundred  furlongs  from 
the  city  on  the  confines  of  Bceotia; — instead  of 
corsairs  issuing  from  Euboea  to  plunder  us,  At- 
166 


DEMOSTHENES 


tica  was  in  peace  on  the  coast-side  during  the 
v\'hole  war; — instead  of  Philip  being  master  of 
the  Hellespont  by  taking  Byzantium,  the  Byzan- 
tines were  our  auxiliaries  against  him.  Does 
this  computation  of  services,  think  you,  resemble 
the  casting  ^f.  accounts  ?  Or  should  we  strike 
these  out  on  a  balance,  and  not  look  that  they 
be  kept  in  everlasting  remembrance  ?  I  will  not 
si^t  down,  that  of  the  cruelty,  remarkable  in  eases 
where  Philip  got  people  all  at  once  into  his 
power,  others  have  had  the  trial ;  while  of  the 
generosity,  which,  casting  about  for  his  future 
purposes,  he  assumed  toward  Athens,  you  have 
happily  enjoyed  the  fruits.     I  pass  that  by. 

If  you  talk  about  just  conditions  with  the  The- 
bans,  ^Eschines,  or  with  the  B^yzantines  or  Euboe- 
ans,  or  discuss  now  the  question  of  equal  terms, 
first  I  say— you  are  ignorant  that  of  those  gal- 
leys formerly  which  defended  Greece,  being  three 
hundred  in  number,  our  commonwealth  fur- 
nished two  hundred,  and  never  (as  it  seemed) 
thought  herself  injured  by  having  done  so,  never 
prosecuted  those  who  advised  it  or  expressed  any 
dissatisfaction — shame  on  her  if  she  had  ! — but 
was  grateful  to  the  gods,  that,  when  a  common 
danirer  beset  the  Greeks,  she  alone  furnished 
double  what  the  rest  did  for  the  preservation  of 
all.  Besides,  it  is  but  a  poor  favor  you  do  your 
(-•ouutryjiK^n  by  calnmiiiating  me..  For  Vv'hat  is 
the  use  of  telling  us  now  what  we  should  have 
done?  Wliy,  being  in  the  city  and  ])r('S('nt,  did 
you  not  make  your  proposals  then  ;  if  indeed  they 

1G7 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

were  practicable  at  a  crisis,  when  we  had  to  ac- 
cept not  what  we  liked  but  what  the  circum- 
stances allowed?  Remember,  there  was  one 
ready  to  bid  against  us,  to  welcome  eagerly  those 
that  we  rejected,  and  give  money  into  the  bar- 
gain. 

But  if  I  am  accused  for  what  I  have  actually 
done,  how  would  it  have  been,  if,  through  my 
hard  bargaining,  the  states  had  gone  off  and  at- 
tached themselves  to  Philip,  and  he  had  become 
master  at  the  same  tixne  of  Eubcea,  Thebes,  and 
Byzantium  ?  What,  think  ye,  these  impious  men 
vv'ould  have  said  or  done?  Said  doubtless,  that 
the  states  were  abandoned — that  they  wished  to 
join  us  and  were  driven  awaj^ — that  ho  had  got 
command  of  the  Hellespont  by  the  Byzantines, 
and  become  master  of  the  corn-trade  of  Greece — 
that  a  heavy  neighbor-war  had  by  means  of  the 
Thebans  been  brought  into  Attica — that  the  sea 
had  become  unnavigable  by  the  excursion  of  pi- 
rates from  Eubcea!  All  this  would  they  have 
said  sure  enough,  and  a  great  deal  besides.  A 
wicked,  wicked  thing,  0  Athenians,  is  a  calumni- 
ator always,  every  way  spiteful  and  faultfinding. 
But  this  creature  is  a  reptile  by  nature,  that  from 
the  beginning  never  did  anything  honest  or  lib- 
eral ;  a  very  ape  of  a  tragedian,  village  CEno- 
maus,  counterfeit  orator!  Yvliat  advantage  has 
your  eloquence  been  to  your  country?  Now  do 
you  speak  to  us  about  the  past  ?  As  if  a  physician 
should  visit  his  patients,  and  not  order  or  pre- 
scribe anything  to  cure  the  disease,  but  on  the 
168 


DEMOSTHENES 


death  of  any  one,  when  the  last  ceremonies  were 
performing,  should  follow  him  to  the  grave  and 
expound,  how,  if  the  poor  fellow  had  done  this 
and  that,  he  never  would  have  died!  Idiot,  do 
you  speak  now  ? 

Even  the  defeat — if  you  exult  in  that  which 
should  make  you  groan,  you  accursed  one ! — by 
nothing  that  I  have  done  will  it  appear  to  have 
befallen  us.  Consider  it  thus,  0  Athenians. 
From  no  embassy,  on  which  I  was  commissioned 
by  you,  did  I  ever  come  away  defeated  by  the 
ambassadors  of  Philip — neither  from  Thessaly, 
nor  from  Ambracia,  nor  from  the  kings  of 
Thrace,  nor  from  Byzantium,  nor  from  any  other 
place,  nor  on  the  last  recent  occasion  from 
Thebes ;  but  where  his  ambassadors  were  van- 
quished in  argument,  he  came  with  arms  and 
carried  the  day.  And  for  this  you  call  me  to  ac- 
count ;  and  are  not  ashamed  to  jeer  the  same  per- 
son for  cowardice,  whom  you  require  single- 
handed  to  overcome  the  might  of  Philip— and 
that,  too,  by  words  I  For  what  el.-^e  had  I  at  rny 
command?  Certainly  not  the  spirit  of  each  indi- 
vidual, nor  the  fortune  of  the  army,  nor  Ihe  con- 
duct of  the  war,  for  which  you  would  2iiake  me 
accountable  :  such  a  blunderer  are  you  ! 

Yet  understand  me.  Of  what  a  stat(-sinan 
miay  be  resprinsible  for  I  allow  tlir-  iitiiuvst  scru- 
tiny ;  I  deprecate  it  not.  What  are  his  fund  ions  ? 
To  obsci've  thimrs  in  1lu^  bcu-inniiiL''.  1(»  roresee  and 
forotell  thom  to  oUkts, — this  I  hrive  done:  again; 
wherever  he  finds  deh-ivs,  backwardness,  igno- 
161) 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

ranee,  jealousies,  vices  inherent  and  unavoidable 
in  all  communities,  to  contract  them  into  the  nar- 
rowest compass,  and  on  the  other  hand,  to  pro- 
mote unanimity  and  friendship  and  zeal  in  the 
discharge  of  duty.  All  this,  too,  I  have  per- 
formed; and  no  one  can  discover  the  least  neg- 
lect on  my  part.  Ask  any  man,  by  what  means 
Philip  achieved  most  of  his  successes,  and  you 
will  be  told,  by  his  army,  and  by  his  bribing  and 
corrupting  men  in  power.  Well ;  your  forces 
were  not  under  my  command  or  control ;  so  that 
I  can  not  be  questioned  for  anything  done  in  that 
department.  But  by  refusing  the  price  of  cor- 
ruption I  have  overcome  Philip  ;  for  as  the  offerer 
of  a  bribe,  if  it  be  accepted,  has  vanquished  the 
taker,  so  the  person  who  refuses  it  and  is  not 
corrupted  has  vanquished  the  person  offering. 
Therefore  is  the  commonwealth  undefeated  as  far 
as  I  am  concerned. 

For  my  part,  I  regard  any  one,  who  reproaches 
his  fellow  man  with  fortune,  as  devoid  of  sense. 
He  that  is  best  satisfied  with  his  condition,  he 
that  deems  his  fortune  excellent,  can  not  be  sure 
that  it  will  remain  so  until  the  evening :  how  then 
can  it  be  right  to  bring  it  forward,  or  upbraid 
another  man  with  it?  As  ^Eschines,  however, 
has  on  this  subject  (besides  many  others)  ex- 
pressed himself  with  insolence,  look,  men  of  Ath- 
ens, and  observe  how  much  more  truth  and  hu- 
manity there  shall  be  in  my  discourse  upon  for- 
tune than  in  his. 

I  hold  the  fortune  of  our  commonwealth  to  be 

170 


DEMOSTHENES 


good,  and  so  I  find  the  oracles  of  Dodona^an 
Jupiter  and  Phytliian  Apollo  declaring  to  us. 
The  fortune  of  all  mankind,  which  now  prevails, 
I  consider  cruel  and  dreadful:  for  what  Greek, 
what  barbarian,  has  not  in  these  times  experi- 
enced a  multitude  of  evils  ?  That  Athens  chose 
the  noblest  policy,  that  she  fares  better  than 
those  very  Greeks  who  thought,  if  they  aban- 
doned us,  they  should  abide  in  prosperity,  I 
reckon  as  ])art  of  her  good  fortune ;  if  she  suf- 
fered reverses,  if  all  happened  not  to  us  as  we 
desired,  I  conceive  she  has  had  that  share  of  the 
general  fortune  which  fell  to  our  lot.  As  to  my 
fortune  (personally  speaking)  or  that  of  any  in- 
dividual among  us,  it  should,  as  I  conceive,  be 
judged  of  in  connection  with  personal  matters. 
Such  is  my  opinion  upon  the  subject  of  fortune, 
a  right  and  just  one,  as  it  appears  to  me,  and  I 
think  you  will  agree  with  it.  ^Esehines  says  that 
my  individual  fortune  is  paramount  to  that  of 
the  commonwealth,  the  small  and  mean  to  the 
good  and  great.     How  can  this  possibly  be  ? 

However,  if  you  are  determined,  .Eschines,  to 
scrutinize  my  fortune,  compare  it  with  j'our  own, 
and,  if  you  find  my  fortune  better  than  yours, 
cease  to  revile  it.  Look  then  from  the  very  be- 
ginning. And  I  pray  and  entreat  that  I  may  not 
be  condemned  for  bad  taste.  I  don't  think  any 
person  wise,  who  insults  poverty,  or  who  prides 
himself  on  having  been  bred  in  affluence:  but  by 
the  slander  and  malice  of  this  cruel  man  I  am 
forced  into  such  a  discnssion ;  which  I  will  con- 
171 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

duct  with  all  the  moderation  which  circum- 
stances allow. 

I  had  the  advantage,  ^schines,  in  my  boyhood 
of  going  to  proper  schools,  and  having  such  al- 
lowance as  a  boy  should  have  who  is  to  do  noth- 
ing mean  from  indigence.  Arrived  at  man's  es- 
tate, I  lived  suitably  to  my  breeding;  was  choir- 
master, ship-commander,  rate-payer;  backward 
in  no  acts  of  liberality  public  or  private,  but 
making  myself  useful  to  the  commonwealth  and 
to  my  friends.  When  I  entered  upon  state  af- 
fairs, I  chose  such  a  line  of  politics,  that  both  by 
my  country  and  many  people  of  Greece  I  have 
been  crowned  many  times,  and  not  even  you  my 
enemies  venture  to  say  that  the  line  I  chose  was 
not  honorable.  Such  then  has  been  the  fortune 
of  my  life:  I  could  enlarge  upon  it,  but  I  for- 
bear, lest  what  I  pride  myself  in  should  give 
offense. 

But  you,  the  man  of  dignity,  who  spit  upon 
others,  look  what  sort  of  fortune  is  yours  com- 
pared with  mine.  As  a  boy  you  were  reared  in 
abject  poverty,  waiting  with  your  father  in  his 
school,  grinding  the  ink,  sponging  the  benches, 
svv'eeping  the  room,  doing  the  duty  of  a  menial 
rather  than  a  freeborn  m.an.  After  you  were 
grown  up,  you  attended  your  mother  in  the  ini- 
tiations, reading  her  books  and  helping  in  all  the 
ceremonies;  at  night  wrapping  the  noviciates  in 
fawn-skin,  swilling,  purifying,  and  scouring 
them  with  clay  ancl  bran,  raising  them  after  the 
lustration,  and  bidding  them  say,  "Bad  I  have 
17:i 


DEMOSTHENES 


scaped,  and  better  I  have  found'';  priding  j^our- 
self  that  no  one  ever  howled  so  lustily — and  I 
believe  him!  for  don't  suppose  that  he  who 
speaks  so  loud  is  not  a  splendid  howler !  In  the 
daytime  you  led  your  noble  orgiasts,  crowned 
with  fennel  and  poplar,  through  the  highways, 
s'lueezing  the  big-eheekod  serpents,  and  lifting 
them  over  your  head,  and  shouting  Evce  Saboe, 
and  capering  to  the  words  Ilyes  Attes,  Attes 
lives,  saluted  by  the  beldames  as  Leader,  Cou- 
durior.  Chest-bearer,  Fan-bearer,  and  the  like, 
g(  t  ring  as  your  reward  tarts  and  biscuits  and 
rolls:  for  which  any  man  might  well  bless  him- 
self and  his  fortune! 

When  you  were  enrolled  among  your  fellow 
townsmen- — by  what  means  ,1  stop  not  to  inquire 
— wlun  you  were  enrolled,  however,  you  immedi- 
ately selected  the  most  honorable  of  employ- 
munts.  that  of  clerk  and  assistant  to  our  petty 
magistrates.  From  this  you  were  removed  after 
a  while,  having  done  yourself  all  that  you  charge 
others  with:  and  then,  sure  enoui-di.  you  dis- 
graced not  your  antecedents  by  your  subsequent 
life,  but  hiring  yourself  to  those  ranting  players, 
as  they  were  called,  Simylus  and  Socrates,  you 
acted  third  parts,  collecting  figs  and  grapes  and 
olives  like  a  fruiterer  from  other  men's  farms, 
and  getting  more  from  them  than  from  the  play- 
ing, in  which  th(^  livrs  of  your  whole  c()Tn])any 
were  at  stake;  for  there  was  an  implacable  and 
in'-essant  war  between  1hem  and  th(^  andieufe, 
from  whom  you  received  so  niany  wounds,  that 
173 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

DO  wonder  you  taunt  as  cowards  people  inexpe- 
rienced in  such  encounters. 

But  passing  over  what  may  be  imputed  to  pov- 
erty, I  will  come  to  the  direct  charges  against 
your  character.  You  espoused  such  a  line  of 
politics  (when  at  last  you  thought  of  taking  to 
them)  that,  if  your  country  prospered,  you  lived 
the  life  of  a  hare,  fearing  and  trembling  and 
ever  expecting  to  be  scourged  for  the  crimes  of 
which  your  conscience  accused  you ;  tho  all  have 
seen  how  bold  you  were  during  the  misfortunes 
of  the  rest.  A  man  who  took  courage  at  the 
death  of  a  thousand  citizens — what  does  he  de- 
serve at  the  hands  of  the  living?  A  great  deal 
more  than  I  could  say  about  him  I  shall  omit ; 
for  it  is  not  all  I  can  tell  of  his  turpitude  and 
infamy  which  I  ought  to  let  slip  from  my  tongue, 
but  only  what  is  not  disgraceful  to  myself  to 
mention. 

Contrast  now  the  circumstances  of  your  life 
and  mine,  gently  and  with  temper,  ^Eschines ; 
and  then  ask  these  people  whose  fortune  they 
would  each  of  them  prefer.  You  taught  reading, 
I  went  to  school;  you  performed  initiations,  I 
received  them ;  you  danced  in  the  chorus,  I  fur- 
nished it ;  you  were  assembly  clerk,  I  was  a 
speaker ;  you  acted  third  parts,  I  heard  you ;  you 
broke  down,  and  I  hissed;  you  have  worked 
as  a  statesman  for  the  enemy,  I  for  my  country. 
I  pass  by  the  rest ;  but  this  very  day  I  am  on  my 
probation  for  a  crown,  and  am  acknowledged  to 
be  innocent  of  all  offense ;  while  you  are  already 
174 


DEMOSTHENES 


judged  to  be  a  pettifog-ger,  and  the  question  is, 
whether  you  shall  continue  that  trade,  or  at  once 
be  silenced  bv  not  getting  a  fifth  part  of  the 
votes.  A  happy  fortune,  do  you  see,  you  have 
enjoyed,  that  you  should  denounce  mine  as  mis- 
erable ! 

I  will  have  done  then  with  private  topics,  but 
say  another  word  or  two  upon  public.  If  you 
can  mention,  ^l']schines.  a  single  man  under  the 
sun,  whelhcr  Greek  or  barbarian,  who  has  not 
suifered  by  Philip's  power  formerly  and  Alex- 
ander's now,  well  and  good;  I  concede  to  you, 
tbat  my  ^'ortiine,  (^r  misfortune  (if  you  please), 
has  been  the  cause  of  everything.  But  if  many 
that  never  saw  me  or  heard  my  voice  have  been 
grievously  afflicted,  not  individuals  only  but 
whole  cities  and  nations;  how  much  juster  and 
fairer  is  it  to  consider,  that  to  the  common  for- 
tiuie  apparently  of  all  men,  to  a  tide  of  events 
overwhelming  and  lamentable,  these  disasters  are 
to  be  attril)uted.  You,  disregarding  all  this, 
accuse  me  whose  ministry  has  been  among  my 
countrymen,  knowing  all  the  while,  that  a  part 
(if  not  the  whole)  of  your  calumny  falls  upon 
the  people,  and  yourself  in  particular.  For  if  I 
assumed  the  sole  and  absolute  direction  of  our 
counsels,  it  was  o[)cu  to  you  the  other  speakers 
to  accuse  mo;  but  if  you  were  constantly  present 
in  all  the  assemblies,  if  the  state  invited  public 
discussion  of  what  was  expedient,  and  if  these 
measures  were  then  believed  by  all  to  be  the  best, 
and  especially  by  you  C  for  certainly  from  no 
175 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

good-will  did  you  leave  me  in  possession  of  hopes 
and  admiration  and  honors,  all  of  which  attended 
on  my  policy,  but  doubtless  because  you  were 
compelled  by  the  truth  and  had  nothing  better 
to  advise)  ;  is  it  not  iniquitous  and  monstrous  to 
complain  now  of  measures,  than  which  you  could 
suggest  none  better  at  the  time  ? 

I  should  conclude,  ^-Eschines,  that  you  under- 
took this  cause  to  exhibit  your  eloquence  and 
strength  of  lungs,  not  to  obtain  satisfaction  for 
any  wrong.  But  it  is  not  the  language  of  an  ora- 
tor, ^schines,  that  has  any  value,  nor  yet  the 
tone  of  his  voice,  but  his  adopting  the  same  views 
with  the  people,  and  his  hating  and  loving  the 
same  persons  that  his  country  does.  lie  that  is 
thus  minded  will  say  everything  with  loyal  in- 
tention ;  he  that  courts  persons  from  whom  the 
commonwealth  apprehends  danger  to  herself, 
rides  not  on  the  same  anchorage  with  the  people, 
and,  therefore,  has  not  the  same  expectation  of 
safety.  But — do  you  see  ? — I  have ;  for  my  ob- 
jects are  the  same  with  those  of  my  countrymen : 
I  have  no  interest  separate  or  distinct.  Is  that 
so  with  you?  How  can  it  be — when  inimcdiately 
after  the  battle  you  went  as  ambassador  to 
Philip,  who  was  at  that  period  the  author  of  your 
country's  calamities,  notwithstanding  that  you 
had  before  persisted  in  refusing  that  office,  as  all 
men  know  ? 

And  who  is  it  that  deceives  the  state  ?  Surely 
the  man  who  spealcs  not  Avliat  he  thinks.  On 
whom  does  the  crier  pronounce  a  curse  ?  Surely 
176 


DEMOSTHENES 


on  such  a  man.  What  greater  crime  can  an  orator 
be  charged  with  than  that  his  opinions  and  his 
language  are  not  the  same  ?  Such  is  found  to  be 
your  character.  And  yet  you  open  your  mouth, 
and  dare  to  look  these  men  in  the  faces !  Do  you 
think  they  don't  know  you? — or  are  sunk  in  such 
slumber  and  oblivion,  as  not  to  remember  the 
speeches  which  you  delivered  in  the  assembly, 
cursing  and  swearing  that  you  had  nothing  to  do 
M'ith  Philip,  and  that  I  brought  that  charge 
against  you  out  of  personal  enmity  without  foun- 
dation ?  Xo  sooner  came  the  news  of  the  battle, 
than  you  forgot  all  that ;  you  acknowledge  and 
avowed  that  between  Philip  and  yourself  there 
subsistod  a  relation  of  hospitality  and  friendship 
— new  names  these  for  your  contract  of  hire.  For 
upon  what  plea  of  equality  or  justice  could  ^s- 
cliinos,  son  of  Glaucothea,  the  timbrel  player,  be 
the  friend  or  acquaintance  of  Philip  ?  I  cannot 
see.  Xo !  You  were  hired  to  ruin  the  interests 
cf  your  countrymen;  and  yet,  tho  you  have  been 
caught  yourself  in  open  treason,  and  informed 
against  yourself  after  the  fact,  you  revile  and 
reproach  me  for  things  which  you  will  find  any 
man  is  chargeable  with  sooner  than  I. 

Many  great  and  glorious  enterprises  has  Ww 
coimnonwealth,  ,Escliines,  under! alccii  and  suc- 
ceeded in  through  me;  and  sb"  did  not  forget 
them.  Here  is  tlie  proof---On  the  olectif^i  of  a 
person  to  speak  the  funeral  oration  innnclintely 
after  the  event,  you  were  j)i-o])OS"d,  l)ut  tln'  [X'o- 
j)lt'  would  not  have  you.  TiotwithstaTidin'-T  your 
177 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

fine  voice,  nor  Demades,  tho  he  had  just  made 
the  peace,  nor  Hegemon,  nor  any  other  of  your 
party — but  me.  And  when  you  and  Pythocles 
came  forward  in  a  brutal  and  shameful  man- 
ner (0  merciful  Heaven!)  and  urged  the  same 
accusations  against  me  which  you  now  do,  and 
abused  me,  they  elected  me  all  the  more.  The 
reason — you  are  not  ignorant  of  it — yet  I  will 
tell  you.  The  Athenians  knew  as  well  the  loy- 
alty and  zeal  with  which  I  conducted  their  af- 
fairs, as  the  dishonesty  of  you  and  your  party; 
for  what  you  denied  upon  oath  in  our  prosperity, 
you  confessed  in  the  misfortunes  of  the  repub- 
lic. They  considered,  therefore,  that  men  who 
got  security  for  their  politics  by  the  public  dis- 
asters had  been  their  enemies  long  before,  and 
were  then  avowedly  such.  They  thought  it  right 
also,  that  the  person  who  was  to  speak  in  honor 
of  the  fallen  and  celebrate  their  valor  should  not 
have  sat  under  the  same  roof  or  at  the  same  table 
with  their  antagonists ;  that  he  should  not  revel 
there  and  sing  a  p»an  over  the  calamities  of 
Greece  in  company  with  their  murderers,  and 
then  come  here  and  receive  distinction ;  that  he 
should  not  with  his  voice  act  the  mourner  of  their 
fate,  but  that  he  should  lament  over  them  with 
his  heart.  This  they  perceived  in  themselves 
and  in  me,  but  not  in  any  of  you ;  therefore,  they 
elected  me,  and  not  you.  Nor,  while  the  people 
felt  thus,  did  the  fathers  and  brothers  of  the 
deceased,  who  were  chosen  by  the  people  to  per- 
form their  obsequies,  feel  dilferently.  For  hav- 
178 


DEMOSTHENES 


ing  to  order  the  funeral  banquet  (according  to 
custom)  at  the  house  oi"  the  nearest  relative  to 
the  deceased,  they  ordered  it  at  mine.  And  with 
reason;  because,  tho  each  to  his  own  was  nearer 
of  kin  than  I  was,  none  m  as  so  near  to  them  all 
collectively.  lie  that  had  the  deepest  interest 
in  their  safety  and  success  had  upon  their  mourn- 
ful disaster  the  largest  share  of  sorrow  for  them 
all. 

Of  this  base  and  infamous  conspiracy  and 
proliigacy — or  rather,  O  Athenians,  if  I  am  to 
speak  in  earnest,  of  this  betrayal  of  Grecian  lib- 
erty— Athens  is  by  all  mankind  acquitted,  owing 
to  my  counsels;  and  I  am  acquitted  by  you. 
Then  do  you  ask  me,  .l^schines,  for  what  merit 
I  claim  to  be  honored?  I  will  tell  yon.  Because, 
while  all  the  statesmen  in  Greece,  beginning  with 
yourself,  have  been  corrupted  formerly  by  Philip 
and  now  by  Alexander,  me  neither  opportunity, 
nor  fair  speeches,  nor  large  promises,  nor  hope, 
nor  fear,  nor  anything  else  could  tempt  or  induce 
to  betray  aught  that  I  considered  just  and  bene- 
ficial to  my  country.  Whatever  I  have  advised 
my  fellow  citizens,  I  have  never  advised  like 
you  men,  leaiiing  as  in  a  balance  to  the  side  of 
profit;  all  my  proceedings  have  been  those  of  a 
sou!  upright,  honest,  and  incorrupt;  entrusted 
with  al'fairs  of  grejitcr  magtntud(>  than  any  of 
my  (•(jntemporarics.  1  have  administered  them  all 
honestly  and  faithfully.  Therefore  do  I  claim  to 
be  honored. 

These  and  the  like  measures,  ^Eschines,  are 
17!» 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

what  become  an  honorable  citizen  (by  their  suc- 
cess— 0  earth  and  heaven  ! — we  should  have  been 
the  greatest  of  people  incontestably,  and  deserved 
to  be  so ;  even  under  their  failure  the  result  is 
glory,  and  no  one  blames  Athens  or  her  policy; 
all  condemn  fortune  that  so  ordered  things)  ; 
but  never  will  he  desert  the  interests  of  the  com- 
monwealth, nor  hire  himself  to  her  adversaries, 
and  study  the  enemy's  advantage  instead  of  his 
country's;  nor  on  a  man  who  has  courage  to 
advise  and  propose  measures  worthy  of  the  state, 
and  resolution  to  persevere  in  them,  will  he  cast 
an  evil  eye,  and,  if  any  one  privately  offends  him, 
remember  and  treasure  it  up ;  no,  nor  keep  him- 
self in  a  criminal  and  treacherous  retirement,  as 
you  so  often  do.  There  is  indeed  a  retirement 
just  and  beneficial  to  the  state,  such  as  you,  the 
bulk  of  my  countrymen,  innocently  enjoy;  that 
however  is  not  the  retirement  of  ^lilschines ;  far 
from  it.  Withdrawing  himself  from  public  life 
when  he  pleases,  (and  that  is  often)  he  watches 
for  the  moment  when  you  are  tired  of  a  constant 
speaker,  or  when  some  reverse  of  fortune  has 
befallen  you,  or  anything  untoward  has  hap- 
pened (and  many  are  the  casualties  of  human 
life)  ;  at  such  a  crisis  he  springs  up  an  orator, 
rising  from  his  retreat  like  a  wind ;  in  full  voice, 
with  words  and  phrases  collected,  he  rolls  them 
out  audibly  and  breathlessly,  to  no  advantage  or 
good  purpose  whatsoever,  but  to  the  detriment 
of  some  or  other  of  his  fellow  citizens  and  to  the 
general  disgrace. 

180 


DEMOSTHENES 


Yet  from  this  labor  and  diligence,  .-^schines, 
if  it  proceeded  from  an  honest  heart,  solicitous 
for  your  country's  welfare,  the  fruits  should 
have  been  rich  and  noble  and  profitable  to  all 
— alliances  of  states,  supplies  of  money,  con- 
veniences of  commerce,  enactment  of  useful  laws, 
opposition  to  our  declared  enemies.  All  such 
things  were  looked  for  in  former  times ;  and 
many  opportunities  did  the  past  afford  for  a 
good  man  and  true  to  show  'limself;  during 
which  time  you  are  nowhere  to  be  found,  neither 
first,  second,  third,  fourth,  fifth,  nor  sixth — not  in 
any  rank  at  all — certainly  on  no  service  by  which 
your  country  was  exalted.  For  what  alliance  has 
come  to  the  state  by  your  procurement?  What 
succors,  what  acquisition  of  good  will  or  credit? 
What  embassy  or  agency  is  there  of  yours,  by 
which  the  reputation  of  the  country  has  been  in- 
creased? What  concern  domestic,  Hellenic,  or 
foreign,  of  which  you  have  had  the  management, 
has  improved  under  it?  What  galleys?  what 
ammunition?  what  arsenals?  ivhat  repair  of 
walls?  what  cavalry?  What  in  tlit  world  are  you 
good  for?  What  assistance  in  money  have  you 
ever  given,  either  to  the  rich  or  the  poor,  out  of 
I)ublic  spirit  or  liberality?  None.  But,  good  sir, 
if  there  is  nothing  of  this,  tli(>re  is  at  all  events 
zeal  and  loyalty.  Where?  when?  You  infamous 
i'cllow!  Even  at  a  time  when  all  v/ho  ever  spoke 
upon  the  platform  gave  something  for  the  public 
safety,  and  last  Aristonicus  gave  the  sum  which 
lu'   hud   amassed   to   retrieve  his   franchise,   you 

181 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

neither  came  forward  nor  contributed  a  mite 
— not  from  inability — no,  for  you  have  inherited 
above  five  talents  from  Philo,  your  wife's  father, 
and  you  had  a  subscription  of  two  talents  from 
the  chairmen  of  the  boards  for  what  you  did  to 
cut  up  the  navy  la^v.  But,  that  I  may  not  go 
from  one  thing  to  another  and  lose  sight  of  the 
question,  I  pass  this  by.  That  it  was  not  poverty 
prevented  your  contributing,  already  appears ;  it 
was,  in  fact,  youi  anxiety  to  do  nothing  against 
those  to  whom  your  political  life  is  subservient. 
On  what  occasions  then  do  you  show  your  spirit  ? 
When  do  you  shine  out!  When  aught  is  to  be 
spoken  against  your  countrymen ! — then  it  is 
you  who  are  splendid  in  voice,  perfect  in  mem- 
ory, an  admirable  actor,  a  tragic  Theocrines. 

You  mention  the  good  men  of  olden  times ;  and 
you  are  right  so  to  do.  Yet  it  is  hardly  fair,  0 
Athenians,  that  he  should  get  the  advantage  of 
that  respect  which  you  have  for  the  dead,  to 
compare  and  contrast  me  with  them, — me  who 
am  living  among  you;  for  what  mortal  is  igno- 
rant, that  toward  the  living  there  exists  always 
more  or  less  of  ill  will,  whereas  the  dead  are  no 
longer  hated  even  by  an  enemy?  Such  being 
human  nature,  am  I  to  be  tried  and  judged  by 
the  standard  of  my  predecessors?  Heaven  for- 
bid I  It  is  not  j  ust  nor  equitable,  y^Zschines.  Let 
nve  be  compared  with  you,  or  any  persons  you 
Hke  of  your  party  who  are  still  alive.  And  con- 
sider this — whether  i^  is  more  honorable  and 
better  for  the  state,  that  because  of  the  services 
182 


DEMOSTHENES 


of  a  former  aire,  prodig'iovis  tlio  they  nre  bt.'yond 
all  power  of  ex]'»ression.  those  of  the  })resent 
generation  should  be  iinre(iuilfd  and  spurned, 
or  tliat  aii  who  uive  pi'oof  of  their  <:'oo(l  inten- 
tions sliouhl  have  their  sliare  of  hont)r  and  reirard 
from  the  people?  Yet.  indeed — if  I  must  say  so 
much — my  ])olitics  and  principles,  if  considered 
fairly,  v/ill  be  found  to  resembb^  those  of  the 
illustrious  ancients,  and  to  have  had  the  same 
objects  in  view,  while  yours  resemble  those  of 
their  calumniators;  for  it  is  certain  there  were 
persons  in  those  times,  who  ran  down  the  living, 
and  pi'aised  people  dead  and  gone,  with  a  malig- 
nant purpose  like  yourself. 

You  say  that  I  am  nothing  like  the  ancients. 
Are  you  like  them,  ^T^schines?  Is  your  brother, 
or  any  of  our  speakers?  I  assert  that  none  is. 
But  pray,  my  good  fellow  (that  I  may  give  yon 
no  other  name),  try  the  living  with  the  living 
and  with  his  competitors,  as  you  would  in  all 
cases — jxiets,  dancers,  athletes.  Philannnon  did 
not,  because  he  was  inferior  to  (jllaucus  of  Carys- 
tus  and  some  other  champions  of  a  bygone  age, 
di'i)art  uncrowned  from  Olympia.  but.  because 
he  beat  all  who  entered  the  ring  against  him,  was 
crowned  and  proclaimed  conqueror.  So  T  ask 
y(m  to  compare  me  with  the  orators  of  the  day, 
with  yourself,  with  any  one  you  hke;  I  yield  to 
noie'.  AVhen  the  commonwealth  was  at  lib(U-ty  to 
choose  for  her  advantage,  and  patriotism  was  a 
matter  of  emulation,  T  showed  myself  a  better 
(•unnscloi-  than  any,  and   cxiM'y   act  o\'  stale   was 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

pursuant  to  my  decrees  and  laws  and  negotia- 
tions ;  none  of  your  party  was  to  be  seen,  unless 
you  had  to  do  the  Athenians  a  mischief.  After 
that  lamentable  occurrence,  when  there  was  a  call 
no  longer  for  advisers,  but  for  persons  obedient 
to  command,  persons  ready  to  be  hired  against 
their  country  and  willing  to  flatter  strangers, 
then  all  of  you  were  in  occupation,  grand  people 
with  splendid  equipages;  I  was  powerless,  I  con- 
fess, tho  more  attached  to  my  countrymen  than 
you. 

Two  things,  men  of  Athens,  are  characteristic 
of  a  well-disposed  citizen — so  may  I  speak  of 
myself  and  give  the  least  offense : — In  authority, 
his  constant  aim  should  be  the  dignity  and  pre- 
eminence of  the  commonwealth;  in  all  times  and 
circumstances  his  spirit  should  be  loyal.  This 
depends  upon  nature;  power  and  might  upon 
other  things.  Such  a  spirit,  you  will  find,  I  have 
ever  sincerely  cherished.  Only  see.  When  my 
person  was  demanded — when  they  brought  Am- 
phictyonic  suits  against  me — when  they  menaced 
— when  they  promised — when  they  set  these  mis- 
creants like  vvild  beasts  upon  me — never  in  any 
way  have  I  abandoned  my  affection  for  you 
From  the  very  beginning  I  chose  an  honest  and 
straightforward  course  in  politics,  to  support  the 
honor,  the  power,  the  glory  of  my  fatherland. 
these  to  exalt,  in  these  to  have  been  my  being. 
I  do  not  walk  about  the  market-place  gay  aiid 
cheerful  because  the  stranger  has  prospered, 
holding  out  my  right  hand  and  congratulating 


DEMOSTHENES 


those  who  I  think  will  report  it  yonder,  and  on 
any  news  of  our  own  success  shudder  and  groan 
and  stoop  to  the  earth,  like  these  impious  men, 
who  rail  at  xVthens,  as  if  in  so  doing  they  did 
not  rail  at  themselves;  who  look  abroad,  and  if 
the  foreigner  thrives  by  the  distresses  of  Greece, 
are  thankful  for  it,  and  say  we  should  keep  him 
so  thriving  to  all  tune. 

Never,  0  ye  gods,  may  those  wishes  be  con- 
firmed by  you !  If  possible,  inspire  even  in  these 
men  a  better  sense  and  feeling !  But  if  they  are 
indeed  incurable,  destroy  them  by  themselves; 
exterminate  them  on  land  and  sea ;  and  for  the 
rest  of  us,  grant  that  we  may  speedily  be  released 
from  our  present  fears,  and  enjoy  a  lasting  de- 
liverance !^ 

^  After  the  failure  of  J^schines  In  this  prosecution,  he  went  into 
exile  and  at  Rhodes  eKtablished  a  schoo!  of  oratory.  It  i"  related 
of  him  that,  one  day  when  he  had  read  this  oration  of  Demosthenes 
to  his  students,  it  was  received  with  siioh  vocifenius-  applause  that 
^schines  generously  remarked,  "  VVhat  would  you  not  have  said 
had  you  heard  him  thunder  out  the  n ords  himijelf  J ' ' 


18b 


AESCHINES 

AGAINST   CTESIPHON;    OR,    ON   THE 
CROWN  ^ 

(330  B.C.) 

Born  In  389  B.C.,  died  in  314;  served  in  several  military  campaigng; 

twice  an  envoy  to  Philip  of  Macedon;  long  the  political  antagonist 

of  Demosthenes ;  after  his  defeat  by  Demosthenes,  in  the  trial  of 

Ctesiphon,  went  into  exile. 

You  see,  Athenians !  what  forces  are  prepared, 
what  numbers  formed  and  arrayed,  what  solic- 
iting through  the  assembly,  by  a  certain  party; 
and  all  this  to  oppose  the  fair  and  ordinary 
course  of  justice  in  the  state.  As  to  me,  I  stand 
here  in  firm  reliance,  first  on  the  immortal  gods, 
next  on  the  laws  and  you,  convinced  that  fac- 
tion never  can  have  greater  weight  with  you 
than  law  and  justice. 

It  were  to  be  wished,  indeed,  that  the  presi- 
dents of  our  senate  and  of  our  popular  assem- 
bly would  attend  with  due  care  to  the  order  of 
their  debates ;  that  the  laws  ordained  by  Solon  to 
secure  the  decency  of  public  speaking  might  still 
preserve  their  force;  that  so  our  elder  citizens 
might  first  arise  in  due  and  decent  form  (as 
these  laws  direct),  without  tumult  or  confusion, 
and  each  declare  in  order  the  salutary  counsels 

1  Delivered  in  Athens  330  B.C.  Translated  by  Thomas  L«lAitd. 
AiLtrid|;ed. 

1S6 


iESCIllNlS 


^SCHINES 


of  his  sage  experience;  that,  after  these,  our 
other  citizens  who  chose  to  speak  might  severally, 
and  in  order,  according  to  their  ages,  propose 
their  sentiments  on  every  subject.  Thus,  in  my 
opinion,  would  the  course  of  government  be  more 
exactly  regulated,  and  thus  would  our  assem- 
blies be  less  frequently  engaged  in  trials. 

But  now,  when  these  institutions,  so  confess- 
edly excellent,  have  lost  their  force ;  when  men 
propose  illegal  resolutions  without  reserve  or 
scruple;  when  others  are  found  to  X)ut  them  to 
the  vote,  not  regularly  chosen  to  preside  in  our 
assemblies,  ])ut  men  who  have  raised  themselves 
to  this  dignity  by  intrigue;  when  if  any  of  the 
other  senators  on  whom  the  lot  of  presidency 
hath  fairly  fallen  should  discharge  his  office 
faithfully,  and  report  your  voices  truly,  there 
are  men  who  threaten  to  impeach  him,  men  who 
invade  our  rights,  and  regard  the  administration 
as  their  private  property ;  who  have  secured  their 
vassals,  and  raised  themselves  to  sovereignty; 
who  have  suppressed  such  judicial  procedures 
as  are  founded  on  established  laws,  and  in  the 
decision  of  those  a[)pointed  by  temporary  de- 
crees, consult  their  passions;  now,  I  say,  that 
most  sage  and  virtuous  proclamation  is  no  longer 
heard,  "AVho  is  disposed  to  speak  of  those  above 
fifty  years  old?"  and  then,  "Who  of  the  other 
citizens  in  their  turns?"  Nor  is  the  indecent 
lio'nse  of  our  speakers  any  longer  restrained  by 
our  laws,  by  our  magistrates;  no,  nor  by  the 
187 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

presiding  tribe  which  contains  a  full  tenth  part 
of  the  community. 

As  to  the  general  nature  of  this  prosecution, 
thus  far  have  I  promised,  and,  I  trust,  without 
offense.  Let  me  now  request  your  attention  to 
a  few  words  about  the  laws  relative  to  persons 
accountable  to  the  public,  which  have  been  vio- 
lated by  the  decree  proposed  hy  Ctesiphon. 

In  former  times  there  were  found  magistrates 
of  the  most  distinguished  rank,  and  intrusted 
with  the  management  of  our  revenues,  who  in 
their  several  stations  were  guilty  of  the  basest 
corruption,  but  who,  by  forming  an  interest  with 
the  speakers  in  the  senate  and  in  the  popular  as- 
sembly, anticipated  their  accounts  by  public  hon- 
ors and  declarations  of  applause.  Thus,  when 
their  conduct  came  to  a  formal  examination, 
their  accusers  were  involved  in  great  perplexity, 
their  judges  in  still  greater;  for  many  of  the 
persons  thus  subject  to  examination,  tho  con- 
victed on  the  clearest  evidence  of  having  de- 
frauded the  public,  were  yet  suffered  to  escape 
from  justice;  and  no  wonder.  The  judges  were 
ashamed  that  the  same  man,  in  the  same  city, 
possibly  in  the  same  year,  should  be  publicly 
honored  in  our  festivals,  that  proclamation 
should  be  made  "that  the  people  had  conferred 
a  golden  crown  on  him  on  account  of  his  integ- 
rity and  virtue";  that  the  same  man,  I  say,  in 
a  short  time  after,  when  his  conduct  had  been 
brought  to  an  examination,  should  depart  from 
the  tribunal  condemned  of  j  I'aud.     In  their  sen- 


-ESCHINES 


tence.  therefore,  the  judges  were  necessarily 
obliged  to  attend,  not  to  the  nature  of  those 
offenses,  but  to  the  reputation  of  the  state. 

Some  of  our  inagisti-ates,  observing  this^ 
framed  a  law  (and  its  excellence  is  undeniable) 
expressly  forbidding  any  man  to  be  honored 
with  a  crown  whose  conduct  had  not  yet  been 
submitted  to  the  legal  examination.  But  not- 
withstanding all  the  precaution  of  the  framcrs 
of  this  law,  pretenses  were  still  found  of  force 
sufficient  to  defeat  its  intention.  Of  these  you 
are  to  be  informed,  lest  you  should  be  unwarily 
betrayed  into  error.  Some  of  those  who,  in  de- 
fiance of  the  laws,  have  moved  that  men  who 
3'et  stood  accountable  for  their  conduct  should 
be  crowned  are  still  influenced  by  some  degree 
of  decency  (if  this  can  with  propriety  be  said 
of  men  who  purpose  resolutions  directly  sub- 
vereive  of  the  laws)  ;  they  still  seek  to  cast  a 
kind  of  veil  on  their  shame.  Hence  arc  they 
sometimes  careful  to  express  their  resolutions  iu 
this  manner:  "that  the  man  v^hose  conduct  is 
not  yet  submiitted  to  examination  shall  be  hon- 
ored M'ith  a  crown  when  his  accounts  have  first 
been  examined  and  approved."  But  this  is  no 
less  injurious  to  the  state  -.  for  ])y  thesc^  crowns 
and  public  honors  is  his  conduct  prejudiced  and 
his  examination  anticipated,  while  the  author 
of  such  resolutions  demonstrates  to  liis  li<'uivfs 
that  his  proposal  is  a  violation  of  the  laws,  am; 
that  he  is  ashamed  of  his  off(Mis(\  Uut  Ctcsiphoti 
my  countrymen,  hath  at  once  broken  througl 
189 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

the  laws  relative  to  the  examination  of  our  mag- 
istrates; he  hath  scorned  to  recur  to  that  sub- 
terfuge now  explained;  he  hath  moved  you  to 
confer  a  crown  on  Demosthenes  previously  to 
any  examination  of  his  conduct,  at  the  very 
time  while  he  was  yet  employed  in  the  discharge 
of  his  magistracy. 

But  there  is  another  evasion  of  a  different 
kind  to  which  they  are  to  recur.  These  offices 
say  they,  to  which  a  citizen  is  elected  by  an 
occasional  decree,  are  by  no  means  to  be  ac- 
counted magistracies,  but  commissions  or  agen- 
cies. Those  alone  are  magistrates  whom  the 
proper  officers  appoint  by  lot  in  the  temple  of 
Theseus,  or  the  people  elect  by  suffrage  in  their 
ordinary  assemblies,  such  as  generals  of  the 
army,  commanders  of  the  cavalry,  and  such 
like;  all  others  are  but  commissioners  who  are 
but  to  execute  a  particular  decree.  To  this 
their  plea  I  shall  oppose  your  own  law — a  law 
enacted  from  a  firm  conviction  that  it  must  at 
once  put  an  end  to  all  such  evasions.  In  this 
it  is  expressly  declared  that  all  offices  whatever 
appointed  by  the  voices  of  the  people  shall  be 
accounted  magistracies.  In  one  general  term 
the  author  of  this  law  has  included  all.  All 
has  he  declared  "magistrates  whom  the  votes 
of  the  assembly  have  appointed,"  and  particular- 
ly "the  inspectors  of  public  works."  Now  De- 
mosthenes inspected  the  repair  of  our  walls, 
the  most  important  of  public  works.  "Those 
who  have  been  intrusted  with  any  public  money 
190 


^SCHINES 


for  more  than  thirty  days;  those  who  are  en- 
titled to  preside  in  a  tribunal."  But  the  in- 
spectors of  works  are  entitled  to  this  privilege. 
What  then  does  the  law  direct?  That  all  such 
should  assume  not  their  "commission"  but 
their  "jiiagistracy, "  having  first  been  judicially 
approved  (for  even  the  magistrates  appointed 
by  lot  are  not  exempted  from  this  previous  in- 
quiry, but  must  be  tirst  approved  before  they 
assume  their  ol^ce).  These  are  also  directed  by 
the  law  to  submit  the  accounts  of  their  adminis- 
tration to  the  legal  oiificers,  as  well  as  every 
other  magistrate.  And  for  the  truth  of  what  I 
now  advance,  to  the  laws  themselves  do  I  ap- 
peal. 

Here,  then,  you  find  +hat  what  these  men  call 
commissions  or  agencies  are  declared  to  be  mag- 
islracies.  It  is  your  part  to  bear  this  in 
memory ;  to  o])pose  the  law  to  their  presumption ; 
to  convince  them  that  you  are  not  to  be  in- 
fluenced by  the  Avretch(Kl  sophistical  artifice  that 
would  defeat  the  force  of  laws  by  words;  and 
that  the  greatei-  their  address  in  defending  their 
illegal  proceedings,  the  more  severely  must  they 
feel  your  ri'sentment;  for  the  public  speaker 
should  ever  use  the  same  language  with  the  law. 
Should  he  at  any  lime  speak  in  one  langmige, 
and  the  law  pronouncf^  another,  to  the  just 
authority  dI"  law  should  you  grant  your  voices, 
not  to  Ihe  shanu'less  presumption  of  the  speaker. 

To  ttial  argument  on  which  Demostheni^s  re- 
lics a-  uilcily  unanswerable  I  would  now  briefly 
v.n 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

speak.  This  man  will  say,  ' '  I  am  director  of  the 
fortifications.  I  confess  it;  but  I  have  expended 
of  my  own  money  for  the  public  service  an  ad- 
ditional sum  of  one  hundred  minse,  and  enlarged 
the  work  beyond  any  instructions:  for  what 
then  am  I  to  account,  unless  a  man  is  to  be 
made  accountable  for  his  own  beneficence? 
To  this  evasion  you  shall  hear  a  just  and  good 
reply.  In  this  city,  of  so  ancient  an  establish- 
ment and  a  circuit  so  extensive,  there  is  not  a 
man  exempted  from  account  who  has  the  smallest 
part  in  the  affairs  of  state.  This  I  shall  show, 
first,  in  instances  scarcely  creditable :  thus  the 
priests  and  priestesses  are  by  the  laws  obliged 
to  account  for  the  discharge  of  their  office, 
all  in  general,  and  each  in  particular;  altho 
they  have  received  no  more  than  an  honorary 
pension,  and  have  had  no  other  duty  but  of 
offering  up  their  prayers  for  us  to  the  gods. 

And  this  is  not  the  case  of  single  persons  only, 
but  of  whole  tribes  as  the  Eumolpidas,  the 
Ceryces,  and  all  the  others.  Again,  the  trier- 
archs  are  by  the  law  made  accountable  for  their 
conduct,  altho  no  public  money  has  been 
committed  to  their  charge ;  altho  they  have 
not  embezzled  large  portions  of  their  revenue, 
and  accounted  but  for  a  small  part;  altho 
the}'  have  not  affected  to  confer  bounties  on  you, 
while  they  really  but  restored  your  own  proper- 
ty. No:  they  confessedly  expended  their  pater- 
nal fortunes  to  approve  their  zealous  affection 
for  your  service;  and  not  our  trierarchs  alone, 
1  :)2 


iESCHINES 


but  the  greatest  assemblies  in  the  state,  are 
bound  to  submit  to  the  sentence  of  our  tribunals. 
First,  the  law  directs  that  the  council  of  the 
Areopagus  shall  stand  accountable  to  the  proper 
officers  and  submit  their  august  transactions  to 
a  legal  examination ;  thus  our  greatest  judicial 
body  stands  in  perpetual  dependence  on  your 
decisions.  Shall  the  members  of  this  council, 
then,  be  precluded  from  the  honor  of  a  crown? 
Such  has  been  the  ordinance  from  times  the  most 
remote.  And  have  they  no  regard  to  public 
honor?  So  scrupulous  is  their  regard,  that  it 
is  not  deemed  sufficient  that  their  conduct  should 
not  be  notoriously  criminal ;  their  least  irregu- 
larity is  severely  punished — a  discipline  too  rig- 
orous for  our  delicate  orators. 

Again,  our  lawgiver  directs  that  the  senate 
of  five  hundred  shall  be  bound  to  account  for 
their  conduct ;  and  so  great  diffidence  does  he 
express  of  those  who  have  not  yet  rendered 
such  account,  that  in  the  very  beginning  of  the 
law  it  is  ordained  "that  no  magistrate  who  has 
not  yet  passed  through  the  ordinary  examination 
shall  be  j)ermitted  to  go  abi-oad."  But  here  a 
mnn  may  (^xclaim,  "AVhat!  in  the  name  of 
TTcaven,  am  I,  because  I  liave  been  in  office,  to 
be  confined  to  the  city?"  Yes,  and  with  good 
reason  ;  lest,  when  you  have  secreted  the  ])ublic 
money  and  betrayed  your  trust,  you  might  en- 
joy your  pei-fidy  by  lliirht.  A'jaiu,  the  laws 
forbid  the  man  who  lias  not  yet  ;ieeoutited  to 
the  state  to  dedicate  any  pai't  of  his  I'fYects  to 
1  {>:', 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

religious  purposes,  to  deposit  any  offering  in 
a  temple,  to  accept  of  an  adoption  into  any 
family,  to  make  any  alienation  of  his  property; 
and  to  many  other  instances  is  the  prohibition 
extended.  In  one  word,  our  lawgiver  has  pro- 
vided that  the  fortunes  of  such  persons  shall 
be  secured  as  a  pledge  to  the  community  until 
their  accounts  are  fairly  examined  and  approved. 
Nay,  further:  suppose  there  be  a  man  who 
has  neither  received  nor  expended  any  part  of 
the  public  money,  but  has  only  been  concerned 
in  some  affairs  relative  to  the  state,  even  such 
a  one  is  bound  to  submit  his  accounts  to  the 
proper  officers.  "But  hoAV  can  the  man  who 
has  neither  received  nor  expended  pass  such 
accounts?"  The  law  has  obviated  this  difficulty, 
and  expressly  prescribed  the  form  of  his  ac- 
counts. It  directs  that  it  shall  consist  of  this 
declaration :  "  I  have  not  received,  neither  have 
I  disposed  of  any  public  money."  To  confirm 
the  truth  of  this  hear  the  laws  themselves. 

When  Demosthenes,  therefore,  shall  exult  in 
his  evasion,  and  insist  that  he  is  not  to  be  ac- 
countable for  the  additional  sum  which  he  be- 
stowed freely  on  the  state,  press  him  with  this 
reply :  "It  was  then  your  duty,  Demosthenes, 
to  have  permitted  the  usual  and  legal  proclama- 
tion to  be  made,  AYho  is  disposed  to  prosecute'/ 
and  to  have  given  an  opportunity  to  every  citi- 
zen that  pleased  to  have  urged  on  his  part  that 
you  bestowed  no  such  additional  sum ;  but  that, 
on  the  contrary,  having  been  intrusted  with  ten 
194 


-ESCHINES 


talents  for  the  repair  of  our  fortifications,  you 
really  expended  but  a  small  part  of  this  great 
sum.  Do  not  assuPxie  an  honor  to  which  you 
have  no  pretensions;  do  not  wrest  their  suf- 
frages from  you7-  judges;  do  not  act  in  pre- 
sumptuous contempt  of  the  laws,  but  with  due 
submission  yield  to  their  guidance.  Such  is 
the  conduct  that  nnist  secure  the  freedom  of  our 
constitution." 

As  to  the  evasions  on  which  these  men  rely, 
I  trust  that  I  liave  spoken  sufficiently.  That 
Demosthenes  really  stood  accountable  to  the 
.•tate  at  the  time  ^s■llen  this  man  proposed  his 
decree,  that  he  v.'as  really  a  magistrate,  as 
manager  of  the  theatrical  funds;  a  magistrate, 
as  inspector  of  the  fortifications;  that  his  con- 
'luct  in  eitbier  of  these  offices  had  not  been 
examined,  had  not  obtained  the  legal  approba- 
tion, I  sliall  now  end(^avor  to  demonstrate  from 
the  pul)]ic  records.  Rvad  in  whose  archonship, 
in  what  month,  on  what  day,  in  what  assembly, 
Demosthen(>s  was  chosen  into  the  office  of  mana- 
ger of  the  theatrical  funds.  So  shall  it  appear, 
that  during  tlie  execution  of  this  office  the  de- 
cree was  made  which  conferred  this  crown  on 
him. 

If,  then,  I  should  here  rest  my  cause  without 
[)roceeding  fui'thci-,  (•tesi])hon  must  stand  (iou- 
victed — convicted,  nol  by  tin;  arguments  of  his 
accuser,  but  by  the  public  records.  Tn  foi'iiirr 
times,  Athenians,  it  was  the  custom  lliat  the 
state  .should   elect   a   coiiiMtrolIer,   who   in   every 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

presidency  of  each  tribe  was  to  return  to  the 
people  an  exact  state  of  the  finances.  But  by 
the  implicit  confidence  which  you  reposed  in 
Eubulus,  the  men  who  were  chosen  to  the  man- 
agement of  the  theatrical  money  executed  this 
office  of  comptroller  (I  mean  before  the  law  of 
Ilegemon  was  enacted),  together  with  the  offices 
of  receiver  and  of  inspector  of  our  naval  affairs ; 
they  were  charged  with  the  building  of  our 
arsenals,  with  the  repair  of  our  roads ;  in  a  word, 
they  were  intrusted  with  the  conduct  of  almost 
all  our  public  business.  I  say  not  this  to  im- 
peach their  conduct  or  to  arraign  their  integrity ; 
I  mean  but  to  convince  you  that  our  laws  have  ex- 
pressly directed  that  no  man  yet  accountable  for 
his  conduct  in  any  one  office,  even  of  the  smallest 
consequence,  shall  be  entitled  to  the  honor  of 
a  crown  until  his  accounts  have  been  regularly 
examined  and  approved ;  and  that  Ctesiphon  has 
yet  presumed  to  confer  this  honor  on  Demosthe- 
nes when  engaged  in  every  kind  of  public  magis- 
tracy. At  the  time  of  this  decree  he  was  a 
magistrate  as  inspector  of  the  fortifications,  a 
magistrate  as  intrusted  with  public  money,  and, 
like  other  officers  of  the  state,  imposed  fines  and 
presided  in  tribunals.  These  things  I  shall  prove 
by  the  testimony  of  Demosthenes  and  Ctesiphon 
themselves ;  for  in  the  archonship  of  Chterondas, 
on  the  22d  of  the  month  Thargelion,  was  a 
])opu]ar  assembly  held,  in  which  Demosthenes 
obtained  a  decree  appointing  a  convention  of 
the  tribes  on  the  2d  of  the  succeeding  month; 
196 


^SCHINES 


and  on  the  3d  liis  decree  directed,  still  further, 
that  supervisors  should  be  chosen  and  treasurers 
from  each  tribe,  for  conducting?  the  repairs  of 
our  fortifications.  And  justly  did  he  thus  di- 
rect, that  the  public  might  have  the  security 
of  good  and  responsible  citizens  who  might  re- 
turn a  fair  account  of  all  disbursements.  Read 
these  decrees. 

Yes;  but  you  will  hear  it  argued  in  answer, 
that  to  this  office  of  inspector  of  the  works  he 
was  not  appointed  in  the  general  assembly  either 
by  lot  or  suffrage.  This  is  an  argument  on  which 
Demosthenes  and  Ctesiphon  will  dwell  with  the 
utmost  confidence,  ^ly  answer  shall  be  easy, 
plain,  and  bi'ief;  but  first  I  would  premise  a 
few  things  on  this  subject.  Observe,  Athenians! 
of  magistracy  there  are  three  kinds:  First,  those 
appointed  l)y  lot  or  by  election.  Secondly,  the 
men  who  have  managed  public  money  for  more 
than  thirty  days,  or  have  inspected  public 
works.  To  these  the  law  adds  another  species, 
and  expressly  declares  that  all  such  persons  as, 
in  (ionsequence  of  a  regular  appointment,  have 
enjoyed  the  i-ight  of  jurisdiction,  shall  when 
approved  be  accounted  magisti'ates:  so  that, 
should  we  take  away  the  magistrates  appointed 
by  lot  or  suflVag'-\,  llicre  yet  remains  the  last 
I-.iiid  of  Hiosc  ai)i)()in1('d  b\'  the  tribes,  or  the 
thirds  of  tribes,  or  by  ]>ai'ti('ular  districts,  to 
manage  public  nioncy,  all  wliicli  are  declared 
to  be  magisli-ales  f'l'oni  llie  lime  of  their  a])- 
pointment.  And  this  lia[)i>ens  in  cases  like  that 
1!)7 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

before  us  where  it  is  a  direction  to  the  tribes 
to  make  canals  or  to  build  ships  of  war.  For  the 
truth  of  this  I  appeal  to  the  laws  themselves. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that,  as  I  have  already 
observed,  the  sentence  of  the  law  is  this,  that 
all  those  appointed  to  any  office  by  their  tribes 
shall  act  as  magistrates,  when  first  judicially 
approved.  But  the  Pandionian  tribe  has  made 
Demosthenes  a  magistrate,  by  appointing  him 
an  inspector  of  the  works ;  and  for  this  purpose 
he  has  been  intrusted  with  public  money  to  the 
amount  of  near  ten  talents.  Again,  another 
law  expressly  forbids  any  magistrate  who  yet 
stands  accountable  for  his  conduct  to  be  honored 
with  a  crown.  You  have  sworn  to  give  sentence 
according  to  the  laws.  Here  is  a  speaker  who 
has  brought  in  a  decree  for  granting  a  crown 
to  a  man  yet  accountable  for  his  conduct.  Xor 
has  he  added  that  saving  clause,  "when  his 
accounts  have  first  been  passed. ' '  I  have  proved 
the  point  of  illegalitv'  from  the  testimony  of 
your  laws,  from  the  testimony  of  your  decrees, 
and  from  that  of  the  opposite  parties.  How 
then  can  any  man  support  a  prosecution  of  this 
nature  with  greater  force  and  clearness? 

But  further,  I  shall  now  demonstrate  that  this 
decree  is  also  a  violation  of  the  law  by  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  directs  that  this  crown  shall  be 
proclaimed.  The  laws  declare,  in  terms  the  most 
explicit,  that  if  any  man  receives  a  crown  from 
the  senate,   the  proclamation  shall   be  made  in 


198 


-ffiSCHINES 


the  senate-house ;  if  by  the  people,  in  the  as- 
ferably;  never  in  any  other  phice. 

x\nd  thi»i  institution  is  just  and  excellent.  The 
author  of  this  law  seems  to  have  been  persuaded 
that  a  public  speaker  should  not  ostentatiously 
tlisplay  his  merits  before  foreigners:  that  he 
should  be  contented  with  the  approbation  of  this 
city,  of  these  his  fellow  citizens,  without  prac- 
tisinsT  vile  arts  to  procure  a  public  honor.  So 
thought  our  lawgiver. 

Since,  then,  it  is  provided  that  those  crowned 
by  the  senate  shall  be  proclaimed  in  the  senate- 
house,  those  by  the  people  in  the  assembly ;  since 
it  is  expressly  forbidden  that  men  crowned  by 
their  districts  or  by  their  tribes  shall  have  proc- 
lamation made  in  the  theater;  that  no  man 
may  indulge  an  idle  vanity  by  public  honors 
thus  clandestinely  procured ;  since  the  law  di- 
rects, still  further,  that  no  ])roclamatiou  shall 
be  made  by  any  others,  but  by  the  senate,  by 
the  people,  by  the  tril)es,  or  by  the  districts,  re- 
spectively; if  we  deduct  all  these  cases,  what 
will  remain  but  crowns  conferred  by  foreigners? 
That  I  speak  witii  truth  the  law  itself  atl'ords 
a  powerful  argument.  It  directs  that  the  golden 
crown  conferred  by  proclamation  in  the  theatei- 
shall  be  taken  from  the  person  thus  honored  and 
consecrated  to  ^Minerva.  But  who  shall  presume 
to  impute  so  i!lib(M'al  a  ])r()('edure  to  the  com- 
munity of  Athens?  Can  flw  stale  or  can  a 
private  person  be  suspected  of  a  spii-it  so  sordid 
that  when  they  tueiiist'lvfs  have  granted  a  crown, 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

when  it  has  been  just  proclaimed,  they  should 
ra're  it  back  again  and  dedicate  it?  Xo ;  I  ap- 
prehend that  such  dedication  is  made  because 
the  crovrn  is  conferred  by  foreigners,  that  no 
luan  by  valuing  the  affection  of  strangers  at  a 
higher  rate  than  that  of  his  country,  may  suffer 
corruption  to  steal  into  his  heart.  But  when 
a  crown  has  been  proclaimed  in  the  assembly,  is 
the  person  honored  bound  to  dedicate  it  ?  No ; 
he  is  allowed  to  posse:~:s  it,  that  not  he  alone  but 
his  posterity  may  retain  such  a  memorial  in  their 
family,  and  never  suff'er  their  aff'ections  to  be 
alienated  from  their  country. 

To  enter  into  a  minute  examination  of  the 
life  of  Demosthenes  I  fear  might  lead  me  into 
a  detail  too  tedious.  And  why  should  I  insist 
on  such  points  as  the  circumstaiices  of  the  in- 
dictment for  his  wound,  brought  before  the  Are- 
opagus against  Demomeles  his  kinsman,  and  the 
gashes  he  inflicted  on  his  ov\-n  head?  or  why 
should  I  speak  of  the  expedition  under  Cephi- 
sodotus,  and  the  sailing  of  our  fleet  to  the  Helles- 
pont, when  Demosthenes  acted  as  a  trierarch, 
entertained  the  admiral  on  board  his  ship,  made 
him  partaker  of  his  table,  of  his  sacrifices  and 
religious  rites,  confessed  his  just  right  to  all 
those  instances  of  affection,  as  an  hereditary 
friend;  and  yet,  when  an  impeachment  had  been 
brought  against  him  which  aff'ected  his  life, 
appeared  as  his  accuser?  Why,  again,  should  I 
take  notice  of  his  ai'fair  with  ]\[idias;  of  the  blows 
which  he  received  in  his  office  of  director  of  the 
200 


^SCHINES 


entertainments;  or  how,  for  the  sum  of  thirty 
niinas  he  compounded  this  insult,  as  well  as  the 
sentence  which  the  people  pronounced  against 
Midias  in  the  theater?  These  and  the  like  par- 
ticulars I  determine  to  pass  over;  not  that  I 
would  betray  the  cause  of  .justice;  not  that  I 
would  recommend  my:^elf  to  favor  by  an  affected 
tenderness;  but  lest  it  should  be  objected  that  I 
produce  facts  true,  indeed,  but  long  since  ac- 
knowledged and  notorious.  Say  then,  Ctesiphon, 
when  the  most  heinous  instances  of  this  man's 
baseness  are  so  incontestably  evident  that  his 
accuser  exposes  himself  to  the  censure,  not  of 
advancing  falsehoods,  but  of  recurring  to  facts 
so  long  acknowledged  and  notorious,  is  he  to  be 
])ublicly  honored,  or  to  be  branded  with  infamy? 
And  shall  you,  who  have  presumed  to  form  de- 
crees equally  contrary  to  truth  and  to  the  laws, 
insolently  bid  detiance  to  the  tribunal,  or  feel 
the  weight  of  public  justice? 

]\Iy  objections  to  his  public  conduct  shall  be 
more  explicit.  I  am  informed  that  Demosthenes, 
when  admitted  to  his  defense,  means  to  enu- 
mi'rate  four  different  periods  in  which  he  was 
engaged  in  the  administration  of  affairs.  One, 
and  the  first,  of  these  (as  I  am  assurtHb)  he 
accounts  that  time  in  which  we  were  at  war  with 
Philip  for  Amphipolis;  and  this  period  ho  closes 
with  the  peace  and  alliance  which  we  coticliuii'd, 
in  consequence  of  the  decree  proposed  by  Pliilo- 
crates,  in  wiiich  Demosthenes  had  e(|ual  slian\ 
as  I  shall  immediately  demonslratt,'.  The  second 
201 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

period  he  computes  from  the  time  in  which  we 
enjoyed  this  peace  dovv'n  to  that  day  when  he 
put  an  end  to  a  treaty  that  liad  till  then  sub- 
sisted and  himself  proposed  the  decree  for  war. 
The  third,  from  the  time  wlien  hostilities  were 
commenced,  down  to  the  fatal  battle  of  Chaero- 
nea.    The  fourth  is  this  present  time. 

After  this  particular  specification,  as  I  am 
informed,  he  means  to  call  on  me,  and  to  de- 
mand explicitly  on  which  of  these  four  periods 
I  found  :ry  prosecution,  and  at  what  i^articular 
time  I  object  to  his  administration  as  inconsis- 
tent with  the  public  interest.  Should  I  refuse 
to  answer,  should  I  attempt  the  least  evasion 
or  retreat,  he  boasts  that  he  will  pursue  me  and 
t  ar  off  my  disguise;  that  he  will  haul  me  to 
the  tribunal,  and  compel  me  to  rei)ly.  That  I 
may  then  at  once  confound  this  presumption, 
and  guard  you  against  such  artifice,  I  thus  ex- 
plicitly reply :  Before  these  your  judges,  before 
the  other  citizens  spectators  of  this  trial,  before 
all  the  Greeks  who  have  been  solicitous  to  hear 
the  event  of  this  cause  (and  of  these  I  see  no 
small  number,  but  rather  miore  than  ever  yet 
knov.n  to  attend  on  any  public  trial)  I  thus 
reply:  I  say,  that  on  every  one  of  these  four 
periods  which  you  have  thus  distinguished  is 
my  accusation  founded. 

You  had  the  fairest  opportunity,  Athenians ! 
of  concluding  this  first  peace^  in  conjunction  with 

'Described    by  iEschines  hi  an  omitted    paragraph  as    ■"That 

202 


^  S  C  H  I  N  E  S 


the  general  assembly  of  the  Greeks,  had  certain 
persons  suffered  \ou  to  wait  the  return  of  our 
ambassadors,  at  that  time  sent  through  Greece 
to  invite  the  states  to  join  in  the  general  con- 
iedi-racy  against  Philip ;  and  in  the  progress  of 
these  negotiations  the  Greeks  would  have  freely 
acknowledged  you  the  leading  state.  Of  thi^^e 
advantages  were  you  dej)rived  by  Demosthenes 
and  Phil  Derates,  and  by  the  bribes  which  they 
received  in  traitorous  conspiracy  against  your 
government.  If  at  first  view  this  assertit)n  should 
seem  incredible  to  any  in  this  tribunal,  let  such 
attend  to  what  is  now  to  be  advanced,  just  as 
men  sit  down  to  the  accounts  of  money  a  long 
time  since  ex])ended.  "We  sometimes  come  from 
home  possessed  Avith  false  opinions  of  the  state 
of  such  accounts ;  but  when  the  several  sums 
have  been  exactly  collected,  there  is  no  man  of 
a  temper  so  ol)stinate  as  to  dissemble  or  to  re- 
fuse Ills  assent  to  the  trutii  of  that  which  the 
account  itself  exhibits.  Llear  me  in  the  present 
cause  with  dispositions  of  the  same  kind.  And 
if  with  respect  to  past  transactions  any  one 
among  you  has  come  hither  possessed  with  an 
opinion  that  Demosthenes  never  yet  appeared  as 
advocate  for  the  interests  of  Philip,  in  dark  con- 
federacy with  Philoci'ates:  if  any  man,  I  .say, 
be  so  persuaded,  let  him  suspend  his  judgment, 
and  neither  assent  nor  deny  until  he  has  heard 
('i'or  justice  reciuires  this;. 

pp^f-H  of  which  yon  I>eniostheiii"^  .in.l  Philoorutes  were  the  finst 
naoverB." 

20'S 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

The  prince  whose  gold  purchased  these  impor- 
tant points  is  by  no  means  to  be  accused.  Be- 
fore the  treaty  was  concluded,  and  previously 
to  his  solemn  engagements,  we  cannot  impute 
it  as  a  crime  that  he  pursued  his  own  interests; 
but  the  men  who  traitorously  resigned  into  his 
hands  the  strength  and  security  of  the  state 
should  justly  feel  the  severest  effects  of  your 
resentment.  He,  then,  who  now  declares  himself 
the  enemy  of  Alexander,  Demosthenes,  who  at 
that  time  was  the  enemy  of  Philip — he  who 
objects  to  me  my  connections  of  friendship  with 
Alexander,  proposed  a  decree  utterly  subversive 
of  the  regular  and  gradual  course  of  public 
business,  by  which  the  magistrates  were  to  con- 
vene an  assembly  on  the  eighth  of  the  month 
Elaphebolion,  a  day  destined  to  the  sacrifices 
and  religious  ceremonies  in  honor  of  Esculapius, 
when  the  rites  were  just  preparing. 

After  these  festivals  our  assemblies  were  ac- 
cordingly convened.  In  the  first  was  the  gener- 
al resolution  of  our  allies  publicly  read,  the 
heads  of  which  I  shall  here  briefly  recite.  They 
in  the  first  place,  resolved  that  you  should  pro- 
ceed to  deliberate  only  about  a  peace.  Of  an 
alliance  not  one  word  was  mentioned;  and  this 
not  from  inattention,  but  because  they  deemed 
even  a  peace  itself  rather  necessary  than  honor- 
able. In  the  next  place,  they  wisely  provided 
against  the  fatal  consequences  of  the  corruption 
of  Demosthenes ;  for  they  expressly  resolved  still 
further,  that  "it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for 
204 


^SCHINES 


any  of  the  Grecian  states  whatever,  within  the 
spaee  of  three  montlis,  to  accede  in  due  fonn 
to  this  treaty,  to  join  in  the  same  solenni  en- 
gagements, and  to  be  included  in  the  sain(^  stipu- 
lations." Thus  were  two  most  important  points 
secured :  First,  an  interval  of  three  months  was 
]>rovided  for  the  Greeks — a  time  sufficient  to 
l)repare  their  deputations;  and  then  the  whole; 
collected  body  of  the  nation  stood  well  affected 
ami  attached  to  Athens,  that  if  at  any  time 
tl\e  tr(>aty  should  be  violated,  we  might  not  bti 
iiuolved  in  war  single  and  unsupported.  These 
^solutions  are  themselves  the  amplest  testimony 
to  the  truth  of  my  assertions. 

It  remains  that  I  produce  some  instances  of 
his  abandoned  flattery.  For  one  whole  year  did 
I^cmosthenes  enjoy  the  honor  of  a  senator;  and 
yt't  in  all  that  time  it  never  appears  that  he 
n;ov"d  to  grant  precedency  to  any  ministers; 
for  the  first,  the  only  time,  he  conferred  this 
distinction  on  the  ministers  of  Philip;  he  ser- 
vilely attended  to  accommodate  them  with  his 
cushions  and  his  carpets;  by  the  dawn  of  day 
he  conducted  them  to  the  theater;  and  by  his 
indecent  and  abandoned  adulation  raised  a  uni- 
versal uproar  of  derision.  AVhen  they  were  on 
their  dei)arture  toward  Thebes  he  hir(>d  three 
teams  of  mules,  and  conducted  them  in  st;ite 
iiito  that  city.  Thus  did  he  expose  his  country 
to  ridicule.  But  that  I  may  confine  mys<'ir  to 
facts,  read  the  decree  relative  to  the  gi-ant  of 
l»r<'C(.'d(.'ncy. 

205 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

And  yet  this  abject,  this  enormous  flatterer, 
when  he  had  been  the  first  that  received  advice 
of  Philip's  death,  from  the  emissaries  of  Chari- 
demus,  pretended  a  divine  mission,  and,  with  a 
shameless  lie,  declared  that  this  intelligence  had 
been  conveyed  to  him,  not  by  Charidemus,  but 
by  Jupiter  and  Minerva !  Thus  he  dared  to 
boast  that  these  divinities,  by  whom  he  had 
sworn  falsely  in  the  day,  had  condescended  to 
hold  communication  with  him  in  the  night,  and 
to  inform  him  of  futurity.  Seven  days  had  now 
scarcely  elapsed  since  the  death  of  his  daughter, 
when  this  wretch,  before  he  had  performed  the 
usual  rites  of  mourning,  before  he  had  duh" 
paid  her  funeral  honors,  crowned  his  head  with 
a  chaplet,  put  on  his  white  robe,  made  a  solemn 
sacrifice  in  despite  of  law  and  decency ;  and  this 
w^hen  he  had  lost  his  child — the  first,  the  only 
child  that  had  ever  called  him  by  the  tender 
name  of  father !  1  say  not  this  to  insult  his 
misfortunes;  I  mean  but  to  display  his  real 
character:  for  he  who  hates  his  children,  he 
who  is  a  bad  parent  cannot  possibly  prove  a 
good  minister.  Re  v\-ho  is  insensible  to  that 
natural  affection  which  should  engage  his  heart 
to  thr-se  who  are  most  intimate  and  near  to  him 
can  never  feel  a  greater  regard  to  your  welfare 
than  to  th  t  of  strangers.  He  who  acts  wickedly 
in  private  life  cannot  prove  excellent  in  his  pub- 
lic conduct;  he  who  is  base  at  home  can  never 
acquit  himself  with  honor  when  sent  to  a  strange 
206 


country  in  a  public  cliai-aeter;  for  it  is  not  the 
man  but  tho  scene  that  chang-es. 

When  I'hilip.  th'  :•.  had  ]\oss;essed  himself  of 
Thermopylie  by  surprise;  when,  contrary  to  all 
expectation,  he  had  subverted  the  cities  of  the 
Phocians;  -when  he  had  raised  the  state  of  Thebes 
to  a  degree  of  power  too  great  (as  we  then 
thought)  for  the  times  or  for  our  interest;  when 
we  were  in  such  consternation  that  our  effects 
were  all  collected  from  the  country  and  deposit- 
ed v/ithin  these  walls — the  severest  indignation 
was  expressed  against  the  deputies  in  general 
who  had  1)een  employed  in  the  negotiation  of 
the  peace,  but  principally,  and  above  all  others, 
against  Philocrates  and  Demosthenes;  because 
they  had  not  only  been  concerned  in  the  depu- 
tation, but  were  the  first  movers  and  authors 
of  the  decree  for  peace.  It  happened  at  this 
juncture  that  a  difl'erence  arose  between  Demos- 
thenes and  Philocrates,  nearly  on  tho  same  oc- 
casion which  you  yourselves  susT)eeted  nmst  pro- 
duce animosities  between  them.  The  ferment 
which  arose  from  hence,  together  v,ith  the  nat- 
ural distemper  of  his  mind,  produced  such 
counsels  as  nothing-  but  an  abject  terror  could 
dictate,  together  with  a  inaliL^iant  jealousy  of 
the  advant;iL'<'S  whi^-h  PhilocT-atcs  d<'rived  fron; 
his  corruj'tio!!.  Tic  cDnc'.ndcd  that  by  inveigh 
ing  against  his  c()lb-aa'ii''s  and  au'ainst  Philip 
i^iiilocratus  mii,-t  iiicvilalily  fa'!;  that  the  otht-i 
deputies  must  be  in  (laiiLivf;  that  he  hiinsclt 
must  gain  reputatio:;  ;  and  notwithstanding  \n> 
■^U7 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

baseness  and  treachery  to  his  friends,  he  must 
acquire  the  character  of  a  consummate  patriot. 
The  enemies  of  our  tranquillity  perceived  his 
designs :  they  at  once  invited  him  to  the  gallery, 
and  extolled  him  as  the  only  man  who  disdained 
to  betray  the  public  interest  for  a  bribe.  The 
moment  he  appeared  he  kindled  up  the  flame  of 
war  and  confusion.  He  it  was,  Athenians,  who 
first  found  out  the  Serrian  fort,  and  Doriscum, 
and  Ergiske,  and  Murgiske,  and  Ganos,  and  Ga- 
nides — places  whose  very  names  were  hitherto 
utterly  unknown;  and  such  was  his  power  in 
perverting  and  perplexing,  that  if  Philip  de- 
clined to  send  his  ministers  to  Athens,  he  re- 
presented it  as  a  contemptuous  insult  on  the 
state;  if  he  did  send  them,  they  were  spies  and 
not  ministers ;  if  he  inclined  to  submit  his  dis- 
putes with  us  to  some  impartial  mediating  state, 
no  equal  umpire  could  be  found,  he  said,  be- 
tween us  and  Philip.  This  prince  gave  us  up 
the  Halonesus;  but  he  insisted  that  we  should 
not  receive  it  unless  it  was  declared,  not  that 
he  resigned,  but  restored — thus  caviling  about 
syllables.  And  to  crown  all  his  conduct,  by 
paying  public  honors  to  those  who  had  carried 
their  arms  into  Thessaly  and  ^Magnesia,  under 
the  command  of  Aristodemus,  in  direct  viola- 
tion of  the  treaty,  he  dissolved  the  peace,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  calamity  and  war. 

"When  he  had  finished  he  presented  a  decree 
to  the  secretary  longer  than  the  Iliad,  more  friv- 
olous than  the  speeches   which  he  usually  de- 


livers,  or  tliau  the  life  whiAi  lie  has  led:  filled 
with  hopes  never  to  be  ^ratilied.  and  with  arma- 
ments never  to  be  raised.  And  while  hu  diverted 
your  attention  from  his  i'l-aud,  while  he  ke])t 
you  in  suspense  by  his  tlattering'  assurances,  he 
seized  the  favorable  moment  to  ir.ake  his  ^rand 
attack,  and  moved  that  ambassadors  should  be 
sent  to  Eretria,  vrho  should  enti-eat  the  Eretrians 
(because  such  entreaties  were  nii.irhty  necessary) 
not  to  send  their  contribution  of  five  talents  to 
Athens,  but  to  intrust  it  to  Ca.llias;  again,  he 
ordained  that  ambassadors  shonld  be  appointed 
to  repair  to  Oreum,  and  to  ]>revail  on  that  state 
to  unite  with  Alliens  in  strict  confederacy.  And 
now  it  appeared,  that  throuuh  this  whole  trans- 
action he  had  been  influenced  by  a  traitorous 
motive;  for  these  ambassadors  were  directed  to 
solicit  the  people  of  Oreum  also  to  pay  their 
five  talents,  not  to  you.  but  to  Callias.  To  prove 
the  truth  of  this  read  the  decree — not  all  the 
pompous  preamble,  the  map'nificent  account  of 
navies,  the  parade  and  ostentation;  but  confine 
yourself  to  the  point  of  fraud  and  circumven- 
tion, which  were  practised  v/ith  too  much  success 
by  this  impious  and  abandoned  wretch,  whom 
the  decree  of  Ctesipho]i  declares  to  have  y.^'V- 
severed,  throuirii  the  course  of  all  his  ])ublic 
conduct,  in  an  inviolable  attachment  to  the 
state. 

TTere    is    a    errand    account    of    shij)s    and    of 
l('vies,of  th(!  full  mooTi.  ;ind  of  conventions.   'I'hus 
vvere  you  amust-d  by   vrords;  while  in  fact  yini 
201) 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

lost  the  contributions  of  your  allies,  you  were 
defrauded  of  ten  talents. 

It  remains  that  I  inform  you  of  the  real 
motive  which  prompted  Demosthenes  to  procure 
this  decree ;  and  that  was  a  bribe  of  three  talents 
— one  received  from  Chalcis,  by  the  hands  of 
Callias,  another  from  Eretia,  by  Clitarchus,  the 
sovereign  of  this  state ;  the  third  paid  by  Oreum., 
by  which  means  the  stipulation  was  discovered; 
for  as  Oreum  is  a  free  state,  all  things  are  there 
transacted  by  a  public  decree.  And  as  the 
people  of  this  city  had  been  quite  exhausted  in 
the  war  with  Philip,  and  reduced  to  the  utm.ost 
indigence,  they  sent  over  Gnosidemus,  who  had 
once  been  their  sovereign,  to  entreat  Demosthenes 
to  remit  the  talent,  promising,  on  this  condition, 
to  honor  him  with  a  statue  of  bronze,  to  be 
erected  in  their  city.  lie  answered  their  dep- 
uty, that  he  had  not  the  least  occasion  for  their 
paltry  brass;  that  he  insisted  on  his  stipulation, 
which  Callias  should  prosecute.  The  people  of 
Oreum,  thus  pressed  by  their  creditor,  and  not 
prepared  to  satisfy  him,  mortgaged  their  publif' 
revenues  to  Demosthenes  for  this  talent,  and 
paid  him  interest  at  the  rate  of  one  drachma  a 
month  for  each  mina,  until  they  were  enabled 
to  discharge  the  principal.  And,  to  ju'ove  this, 
I  produce  the  decree  of  the  Oreitans. 

ITere    is    a    decree,    Athenians,    scandalous   to 

our  country.     It  is  no  small  indication  of  the 

general   condnct  of  Demosthenes,   and   it  is   an 

(>vidence  of  the  most  flagrant  kind,  which  must 

2T0 


^SCHINES 


condemn  Ctesiphon  at  onee :  for  it  is  not  possible 
that  he  who  has  descended  to  such  sordid  bribery- 
can  be  that  man  of  consunmiate  virtue  which 
Ctesiphon  has  presumed  to  represent  him  in  his 
decree. 

And    what    can    be    conceived    surprisin^ir    or 

extraordinary  that  we   have    ]iot    experienced  ? 

Our   lives    liave   not    passed    in    the    usual    and 

natural   course  of  human  affairs:  no,  we  were 

born  to  be  an  object  of  astonishment  to  posterity. 

Do  we  not  see  the  King-  of  Persia,  he  who  opened 

a  passage  for  his  navy  tlirough  Mount  Athos, 

who  stretched  his  bridge  across  the  Hellespont, 

who  demanded  earth  and  water  from  the  Greeks; 

j  he  who  in  his  letters  presumed  to  style  himself 

!  sovereign   of   mankind    from    the   rising   to   the 

I  setting   sun ;    now   no   longer   contending   to   be 

I  lord  over  others,  but  to  secure  his  ])ersonal  safe- 

;  ty?     Do  not  we  see  those  crowned  with  honor 

!  and    ennobled    with    the    command    of    the    war 

against  Persia  who  rescued  the  Delphian  lemple 

from  sacrilegious  liands?     Has  not  Thebes,  our 

1  neighboring  state  been  ii]  one  day  toT'n  from  the 

j  midst    of    (ireece?      And.    altho    this    calamity 

may  justly  be   imputed  to   her  own   pernicious 

councils,    yet    W(^    are    n;)t    to    ascribe    sufh    in- 

I  fatuation  to  any  natural  causes,  but  to  the  fatal 

i  inf!ui'!!C('    of    some    evil    gcniu.s.       Ai'e    not    1he 

j  Laccdiemoniaiis,    those   wi'ctclicd    men,   who   had 

I  but  once  slightly   interfered   iti   the  saci'ilegious 

outrage    on    th^    temple    who    in    theii-    day    of 

power  aspired  to  the  sovereignty  of  (Irecce.  now 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

reduced  to  display  their  wretchedness  to  the 
world  by  sending  hostages  to  Alexander,  ready 
to  submit  to  that  fate  which  he  shall  pronounce 
on  themselves  and  on  their  country;  to  those 
terms  which  a  conqueror,  and  an  incensed  con- 
queror, shall  vouchsafe  to  grant?  And  is  not 
this  our  state,  the  common  refuge  of  the  Greeks, 
once  the  great  resort  of  all  the  ambassadors  from 
the  several  cities,  sent  to  implore  our  protection 
as  their  sure  resource,  now  obliged  to  contend, 
not  for  sovereign  authority,  but  for  our  native 
land  ?  And  to  these  circumstances  have  we  been 
gradually  reduced  from  that  time  when  Demos- 
thenes first  assumed  the  administration. 

And  let  it  be  observed  that  in  these  his  nego- 
tiations he  committed  three  capital  offenses 
against  the  state.  In  the  first  place,  when  Philip 
made  war  on  us  only  in  name,  but  in  reality 
pointed  all  his  resentment  against  Thebes  (as 
appears  sufficiently  from  the  event,  and  needs 
not  any  further  evidence),  he  insidiously  con- 
cealed this,  of  which  it  so  highly  concerned  us 
to  be  informed ;  and  pretending  that  the  alliance 
now  proposed  was  not  the  effect  of  the  present 
conjuncture,  but  of  his  negotiations,  he  first 
prevailed  on  the  people  not  to  debate  about 
conditions,  but  to  be  satisfied  that  the  alliance 
was  formed  on  any  terms;  and  having  secured 
this  point,  he  gave  up  all  Ba?otia  to  the  power 
of  Thebes,  by  inserting  this  clause  in  the  decree 
that  if  any  city  should  revolt  from  the  Thebans, 
the  Athenians  would  grant  their  assistance  to 
212 


-ffiSCHINES 


such  of  the  Boeotians  only  as  should  be  resident 
ill  Thebes ;  thus  concealing-  his  fraudulent  designs 
in  spacious  terms,  and  betraying  us  into  his 
real  purposes,  according  to  his  usual  practise; 
as  if  the  Boeotians,  who  had  really  labored  under 
the  most  grievous  oppression,  were  to  be  fully 
satisfied  with  the  fine  periods  of  Demosthenes, 
and  to  forget  all  resentment  of  the  wrongs  which 
they  had  suffered.  Then  as  to  the  expenses  of 
the  war,  two  thirds  of  these  he  imposed  on  us, 
who  were  the  farthest  removed  from  danger, 
and  one  third  only  on  the  Thet)ans;  for  which, 
as  Avell  as  all  his  other  measures,  he  was  amply 
bribed.  And  with  respect  to  the  command,  that 
of  the  fleet  he  indeed  divided  between  us;  the 
expense  he  imposed  entirely  on  Athens ;  and  that 
of  the  land  forces  (if  I  am  to  speak  seriously 
I  must  insist  on  it)  he  absolutely  transferred 
to  the  Thebans;  so  that  during  this  whole  war 
our  general  Stratocles  had  not  so  much  authority 
as  might  enable  him  to  provide  for  the  security 
of  his  soldiers.  And  here  I  do  not  urge  offenses 
too  trivial  for  regard  of  other  men.  No:  I 
speak  them  freely;  all  mankind  condemn  them, 
and  you  yourselves  are  conscious  of  them,  yet 
will  not  be  roused  to  resentment.  For  so  com- 
pletely lias  Demosthenes  habituated  you  to  his 
offenses,  that  you.  now  hear  tlieiii  without  emo- 
tion or  sur})rise.  lint  this  should  not  be:  they 
should  excite  your  utmost  indignation,  and 
meet  their  just  punishment,  if  you  would  pre- 
s:jrve   those   renuiins   of   fortune   which    are   :■ :  i'.: 

\('h  to  Atliens. 

213 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

And  here  let  us  recall  to  mind  those  gallant 
men  whom  he  forced  out  to  manifest  destruction, 
without  one  sacred  rite  happily  performed,  one 
propitious  omen  to  assure  them  of  success;  and 
yet,  when  they  had  fallen  in  battle,  presumed  to 
ascend  their  monument  with  those  coward  feet 
that  fled  from  their  post,  and  pronounced  his 
encomiums  on  their  merit.  But  0  thou  who, 
on  every  occasion  of  great  and  important  action, 
};ast  proved  of  all  m.ankind  the  most  worthless, 
in  the  insolence  of  language  the  most  astonishing, 
■  •anst  thou  attempt  in  the  face  of  these  thy 
fellow  citizens  to  claim  the  honor  of  a  crown  for 
the  misfortunes  in  which  thou  hast  plunged  thy 
city?  Or,  should  he  claim  it,  can  you  restrain 
your  indignation,  and  has  the  memory  of  your 
slaughtered  countrymen  perished  with  them  ?  In- 
dulge me  for  a  moment,  and  imagine  that  you 
are  now  not  in  this  tribunal,  but  in  the  theater; 
imagine  that  you  see  the  herald  approaching, 
and  the  proclamation  prescri])ed  in  this  decree 
on  the  point  of  being  delivered;  and  then  con- 
sider whether  will  the  friends  of  the  deceased 
shed  more  tears  at  the  tragedies,  at  the  pathetic 
stories  of  the  great  characters  to  be  presented  on 
the  stage,  or  at  the  insensibility  of  their  country? 

That  I  may  now  speak  of  the  fourth  perio<l. 
and  thus  proceed  to  the  present  times,  I  mnt 
recall  one  particular  to  your  thoughts:  that  De- 
mosthenes not  only  deserted  from  his  post  in 
battle,  but  fled  from  his  duty  in  the  city,  under 
the  pretense  of  employing  some  of  our  ships  in 
214 


^  S  C  H  I  N  E  S 


eoUectiug^  contributions  i'ro;>i  tiie  (IreckN;  but 
\vhen^  contrary  to  expectation,  the  public  clangers 
seemed  to  vanish,  he  again  returned.  At  tirst 
he  appeared  a  timorous  and  dejected  creature: 
he  rose  in  the  assembly,  scarcely  half  alive, 
and  desired  to  be  appointed  a  commissioner  for 
settling  and  establishing  the  treaty,  but  during 
the  lirst  progress  of  these  transactions  you  did 
not  even  allow  the  name  of  Demosthenes  to  be 
subscribed  to  your  decrees,  but  appointed  Xau- 
sielfs  your  principal  agent;  yet  now  he  has  the 
P"tMi:u])tion  to  demand  a  crown.  AVhen  Phili]~) 
died  and  Alexander  succeeded  to  the  kingdo;ii, 
thi'ii  did  he  once  more  ]>raelise  his  im])ostures. 
I'f  raised  altars  to  I'ausanias,  and  loaded  the 
si-iiate  with  the  odium  of  oU'eriug  sacrifices  and 
public  thanksgivings  on  this  occasion.  lie  called 
,\i'xander  a  margitos,  and  had  tlie  presumi>tion 
t'»  assert  that  he  would  never  slir  fi-om  ]\lace(lon  : 
I'd!"  that  he  would  be  satislied  with  ]>aradiiig 
through  his  cai)ital,  and  thei'C  tearing  up  his 
victims  in  search  of  happy  omens.  "And  this," 
said  he,  "I  declare,  not  from  conjecture,  but 
from  a  clear  conviction  of  Ibis  great  ti'ulh,  that 
glory  is  not  to  be  purchased  but  by  blood";  1hi> 
wretch!  whose  veins  ha\'e  no  blotul;  who  judiird 
of  Alexander,  not  from  the  t^inpej-  of  Alexander. 
but   from  his  own  dastardly  soul. 

ilut  when  the  Thessalians  li;id  taken  up  aiMiis 
against  us,  and  the  vouiilt  prince  jil  lirst  ex- 
pressed the  warmest  rcsentnietit.  -iitKl  nol  witliout 
i-cason — when    an    army    }i;m1    acluallx'    inl'esteii 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

Thebes,  then  was  he  chosen  our  ambassador; 
but  when  he  had  proceeded  as  far  as  Citha^ron 
he  turned  and  ran  back  to  Athens.  Thus  has 
he  proved  equally  worthless,  both  in  peace  and 
in  war.  But  Avhat  is  most  provoking,  you  re- 
fused to  give  him  up  to  justice ;  nor  would  you 
suffer  him  to  be  tried  in  the  general  council  of 
the  Greeks ;  and  if  that  be  true  which  is  reported, 
he  has  now  repaid  your  indulgence  by  an  act  of 
ilirect  treason ;  for  the  mariners  of  the  Parhalian 
galley,  and  the  aiiibassadors  sent  to  Alexander, 
report  (and  with  great  appearance  of  truth)  that 
there  is  one  Aristion,  a  Platrean,  the  son  of  Aris- 
tobulus,  the  apothecary  (if  any  of  you  know  the 
man).  This  youth,  who  v. as  distinguished  by  the 
beauty  of  his  person,  lived  a  long  time  in  the 
house  of  Demosthenes;  how  he  was  there  em- 
ployed, or  to  what  purposes  he  served,  is  a  mat- 
ter of  doubt,  and  which  it  might  not  be  decent  to 
explain  particulai-Iy :  and,  as  I  am  informed,  he 
afterward  contrived  (as  his  birth  and  course  of 
life  were  a  secret  to  the  world)  to  insinuate  him- 
self into  the  favor  of  Alexander,  with  whom  he 
lived  with  some  intimacy.  This  man  Demos- 
thenes employed  to  deliver  letters  to  Alexander, 
which  served  in  some  sort  to  dispel  his  fears,  and 
effected  his  reconciliation  with  the  prince,  which 
he  labored  to  confirm  by  the  most  abandoned 
flattery. 

And   now   observe   how   exactly   this   account 
agrees  with  the  facts  which  I  allege  against  him; 
for  if  Demosthenes  had  Ijeen  sincere  in  his  pro- 
2;g 


-ESCHINES 


fessions,  had  he  really  been  that  mortal  foe  to 
Alexander,  there  were  three  most  fortunate  oe- 
casions  for  an  0})p()  .iti(Hi.  not  one  of  which  lie 
appears  to  have  im])rove(l.  The  first  was  when 
this  prince  had  but  just  ascended  the  throne, 
and,  before  his  own  att'airs  were  duly  settled, 
passed  over  into  Asia,  when  the  Kinu-  of  Persia 
was  in  the  height  of  all  his  powei-.  ai::;)]y  fiu"- 
nished  with  ships,  with  money,  and  v.-\\\i  forces, 
and  extremely  desirous  of  admittinu'  us  to  his 
alliance,  on  account  of  the  danger  which  then 
threatened  his  dominions.  Did  you  then  uttei- 
one  word,  Demosthenes?  Did  you  rise  up  t;) 
move  for  any  one  resolution  ?  Am  I  to  imi)ute 
your  silence  to  terror — to  the  influence  of  your 
natural  timidity?  But  the  intt^'osts  of  the  state 
cannot  wait  the  timidity  of  a  ]>ul)lic  speaker. 
Again,  when  Darius  had  fallen  fhe  field  with 
all  his  forces;  when  Alexander  was  shut  up  in 
the  defiles  of  Cilieia.  and.  as  you  pretended 
destitute  of  all  necessarii^s;  when  he  was  on  the 
point  of  being  trami)letl  down  by  the  Persian 
cavalry  (this  was  your  language)  ;  when  your 
insolence  was  insupportable  to  the  whole  eify; 
when  you  marched  about  in  state  with  your- 
hitters  in  your  hands,  ])oinfing  me  ont  to  your 
creatures  as  a  tremliliriL''  and  (Icspoiiding  wretch, 
calling  me  the  "gilded  victini."  and  declaring 
that  I  was  to  ])e  crowned  I'm-  sacrifice  if  any 
accident  should  hai»pen  to  Alexander:  still  were 
you  totally  inactive;  still  \n;i  reserved  yournelf 
for  some  fairer  occasion. 
217 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

I  presume,  then,  it  must  be  universally  ac- 
knowledged that  these  are  the  characteristics  of 
a  friend  to  our  free  constitution:  First,  he 
must  be  of  a  liberal  descent  both  by  father  and 
mother,  lest  the  misfortune  of  his  birth  should 
inspire  him  with  a  prejudice  against  the  laws 
which  secure  our  freedom.  Secondh",  he  must 
be  descended  from  such  ancestors  as  have  done 
service  to  the  people,  at  least  from  such  as  have 
not  lived  in  enmaty  with  them ;  this  is  indis- 
pensably necessary,  lest  he  should  be  prompted 
to  do  the  state  some  injury  in  order  to  revenge 
the  quarrel  of  his  ancestors.  Thirdly,  he  must 
be  discreet  and  temperate  in  his  course  of  life, 
lest  a  luxurious  dissipation  of  his  fortune  might 
tempt  him  to  receive  a  bribe  in  order  to  betray 
his  country.  Fourthly,  he  must  have  integrity 
united  with  a  powerful  elocution ;  for  it  is  the 
perfection  of  a  statesman  to  possess  that  good- 
ness of  mind  which  may  ever  direct  him  to  the 
most  salutary  measures,  together  with  a  skill  and 
power  of  speaking  which  may  effectually  re- 
commend them  to  his  hearers ;  yet,  of  the  two, 
integrity  is  to  be  preferred  to  eloquence.  Fifth- 
ly, he  must  have  a  manly  spirit,  that  in  war 
and  danger  he  may  not  desert  his  country.  It 
may  be  sufficient  to  say,  without  further  repe- 
tition, that  a  friend  to  the  arbitrary  power  of 
a  few  is  distinguished  by  the  characteristics  di- 
rectly opposite  to  these. 

And  now  consider  which  of  them  agree  to 
Demosthenes.  Let  us  state  the  account  with  the 
218 


^SCHINES 


most  scrupulous  re<^ard  to  justice.  This  man's 
father  was  Demosthenes  of  the  Pieanian  tribe,  a 
citizen  of  repute  (for  I  shall  adhere  strictly  to 
truth).  But  how  he  stands  as  to  family,  with 
respect  to  his  mother  and  her  father,  I  must 
now  explain.  There  was  once  in  Athens  a  man 
called  LJylon,  who,  by  betrayinj^  Xympha3um  in 
Pontus  to  the  enemy,  a  city  then  possessed  by 
us,  was  oblisred  to  iiy  from  his  country  in  order 
to  escape  the  sentence  of  death  pronounced 
ag'aiust  liim,  and  settled  on  the  Bosphorus,  where 
he  obtained  from  the  neighboring  princes  a  tract 
of  land  called  "The  Gardens,"  and  married  a 
woman  who  indeed  brought  him  a  considerable 
fortune,  l)rit  was  by  ])irth  a  Scythian ;  by  her  he 
had  two  daughters,  whom  he  sent  hither  with  a 
great  quantity  of  wealth.  One  of  them  he  set- 
tled— I  shall  not  mention  with  whom,  that  I 
may  not  provoke  the  resentment  of  too  many ; 
the  other  Demosthenes  tlu^  Pa'anian  married,  in 
defiance  of  our  laws,  and  from  her  is  the  present 
Demosthenes  sprung — our  turbulent  and  ma- 
licious informer.  So  that  by  his  grandfather 
in  the  female  line,  he  is  an  enemy  to  the  state, 
for  this  grandfather  was  condemned  to  death 
by  your  ancestors;  and  ])y  his  mother  he  is  a 
Scythian — one  who  assumes  the  language  of 
(ireece.  but  whose  abandoned  principles  betray 
hi.->  barbarous  descent. 

And  wliat  has  been  liis  course  of  life?  lie 
firsr  assnmefi  tho  office  of  a  triearch,  and,  having 
exhausted  his  ])ati-rnal   fortune  Ity  his  ridiculoub 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

vauity,  he  descended  to  the  profession  of  a  hired 
advocate;  but  having  lost  all  credit  in  this  em- 
ployment by  betraying  the  secrets  of  his  clients 
to  their  antagonists,  he  forced  his  way  into  the 
gallery,  and  appeared  as  a  popular  speaker. 
When  those  vast  sums  of  which  he  had  defraud- 
ed the  public  were  just  dissipated,  a  sudden 
tide  of  Persian  gold  poured  into  his  exhausted 
coffers;  nor  was  all  this  sufficient  for  no  fund 
whatever  can  prove  sufficient  for  the  profli- 
gate and  corrupt.  In  a  word,  he  supported 
himself,  not  by  a  fortune  of  his  own,  but  by 
your  perils.  But  how  does  he  appear  with  re- 
spect to  integrity  and  force  of  elocution  ?  Power- 
ful in  speaking,  abandoned  in  his  manners.  Of 
such  unnatural  depravity  in  his  sensual  grati- 
fications that  I  can  not  describe  his  practises ; 
I  cannot  offend  that  delicacy  to  which  such 
shocking  descriptions  are  always  odious.  And 
how  has  he  served  the  public?  His  speeches 
have  been  plausible,  his  actions  traitorous. 

As  to  his  courage,  I  need  say  but  little  on  that 
head.  Did  he  himself  deny  that  he  is  a  coward? 
Were  you  not  sensible  of  it,  I  should  think  it 
necessary  to  detain  you  by  a  formal  course  of 
evidence;  but  as  he  has  publicly  confessed  it 
in  our  assemblies,  and  as  you  have  been  witnesses 
of  it,  it  remains  only  that  I  remind  you  of  the 
law  enacted  against  such  crimes.  It  was  the 
determination  of  Solon,  our  old  legislator,  that 
he  who  evaded  his  duty  in  the  field  or  left  his 
post  in  battle  should  be  subject  to  the  same 
220 


^SCHINES 


penalties  with  the  man  directly  convicted  of 
cowardice;  for  there  are  laws  enacted  against 
cowardice.  It  may,  perhaps,  seem  wonderfnl 
that  the  law  should  take  cognizance  of  a  natural 
infirmity,  but  such  is  the  fact.  And  why?  That 
every  one  of  us  may  dread  the  punishment  de- 
nounced by  the  law  more  than  the  enemy,  and 
thus  prove  the  better  soldier  in  the  cause  of  his 
country.  The  man,  then,  who  declines  the  service 
of  the  field,  the  coward,  and  he  who  leaves  his 
post  in  battle,  are  by  our  lawgiver  excluded  from 
all  share  in  public  deliberations,  rendered  in- 
capable of  receiving  the  honor  of  a  crown,  and 
denied  admission  to  the  religious  rites  performed 
by  the  public.  But  you  direct  us  to  crown  a 
person  whom  the  laws  declare  to  be  incapable 
of  receiving  a  crown;  and  by  your  decree  you 
introduce  a  man  into  the  theater  who  is  dis- 
qualified from  appearing  there;  you  call  him 
into  a  place  saci-ed  to  Bacchus,  who,  ])y  his 
cowardice,  hath  betrayed  all  our  sacred  places. 
But  that  I  may  not  divi^'t  you  from  the  great 
point,  reiTiember  this:  when  Demosthenes  tells 
you  that  he  is  a  friend  to  liberty,  examine  not 
his  speeches,  but  his  actions;  and  consider  not 
what  he  professes  to  be,  but  what  he  really  is. 

And  now  that  I  have  mentioned  crowns  and 
public  honors,  while  it  yet  rests  on  my  ni'iid. 
let  me  recommend  this  precaution.  ll  v.il'  l-' 
your  ])art,  Athenians,  to  put  ;in  end  to  ti.;- 
fre(]ueney  of  public  honors,  these  preri[/i  In!" 
grants  of  erowns;  else  they  who  obtain  then;  will 
22\ 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

owe  you  no  acknowledgment,  nor  shall  the  state 
receive  the  least  advantage;  for  you  never  can 
make  bad  men  better,  and  those  of  real  merit 
must  be  cast  into  the  utmost  dejection.  Of  this 
truth  I  shall  convince  you  by  the  most  pov/erful 
arguments.  Suppose  a  man  should  ask  at  what 
time  this  state  supported  the  most  illustrious 
reputation — in  the  present  days,  or  in  those  of 
our  ancestors?  AVith  one  voice  you  would  re- 
ply, "In  the  days  of  our  ancestors."  At  what 
time  did  our  citizens  display  the  greatest  merit 
- — then  or  now  ?  They  were  then  eminent ;  now, 
much  less  distinguished.  At  what  time  were  re- 
wards, crowns,  proclamations,  and  public  hon- 
ors of  every  kind  most  frequent — then  or  now? 
Then  they  were  rare  and  truly  valuable ;  then 
the  name  of  merit  bore  the  highest  luster;  but 
now  it  is  tarnished  and  effaced;  while  your  hon- 
ors are  conferred  by  course  and  custom,  not 
with  judgment  and  distinction. 

That  you  may  conceive  the  force  of  what  I 
here  advance,  I  must  explain  myself  still  more 
clearly.  Which,  think  ye,  was  the  more  worthy 
citizen— Themistocles,  who  commanded  your 
fleet  when  you  defeated  the  Persian  in  the  sea- 
fight  at  Sal  amis,  or  this  Demosthenes,  who  de- 
serted from  his  post?  ]\Iiltiades,  who  conquered 
the  barbarians  at  ]\Iarathon,  or  this  man?  The 
chiefs  who  led  back  the  people  from  Phyle  ?  Aris- 
tides,  surnamed  the  Just,  a  title  cpiite  different 
from  that  of  Demosthenes  ?  No ;  by  the  powers 
of  Heaven.     I  deem  the  names  of  these  heroes 


iESCHINES 


too  noblo  to  he  nionlioned  in  the  same  dny  with 
that  of  this  savaire.  And  let  Demostlien.^s  show. 
when  lie  eonies  to  liis  I'eply.  if  ever  a  d^'r-reo  was 
made  for  ^q-antine'  a  cro'den  erown  to  them.  Was 
then  the  state  nngrateful  ?  Xo -.  but  she  tlionorht 
hitrhly  of  her  own  dip-nity.  And  these  citizens, 
who  were  not  thus  ho!iored.  appear  to  have  been 
truly  worthy  of  such  a  state ;  for  they  ima.crined 
that  they  were  not  to  be  honored  by  public  rec- 
ords, but  by  the  memories  of  those  they  had 
oblifrcd:  and  their  honors  have  ther(^  reinained 
from  that  time  down  to  this  day  in  characters 
indelible  and  immortal.  There  were  citizens  in 
those  days,  who.  bein<,'  stationed  at  the  river 
Strymon.  thci-e  ]>atiently  endured  a  loni:  series 
of  toils  and  dancers,  and  at  lenirth  iraincHl  a  vic- 
tory over  the  IMedes.  At  their  retni-n  they  pe- 
titioned the  people  for  a  nnvard:  and  a  reward 
was  conferred  on  them  fthcn  dcmed  of  irreat 
importance)  by  erect incr  three  ^Mercuries  of  stone 
in  the  usual  portico,  on  which,  however,  their 
names  were  not  inscribed,  lest  this  misxht  seem 
a  monunirnt  erc'tt-d  to  the  honor  of  the  com- 
manders, not  to  fh.at  of  the  people. 

As  to  the  caluinnies  with  wlii<'h  I  am  attacked, 
I  would  prevent  tli^ir  effect  by  a  few  observa- 
tions. I  am  informed  that  Deinosthenc^s  is  t<- 
uret.;  that  th(?  state  hath  received  sei-\-ices  from 
him,  but  in  many  instanees  hath  been  injin-ed 
by  me;  the  transactions  of  l*hili[),  the  conduct 
of  Alexander,  all  th<'  crimes  by  tliem  cominitted, 
he  means  to  impute  to  me.  And  so  nnich  doth 
2 '-'3 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

he  rely  on  his  powerful  abilities  in  the  art  of 
speaking  that  he  does  not  confine  his  accusations 
to  any  point  of  administration  in  which  I  may 
have  been  concerned;  to  any  counsels  which  I 
may  have  publicly  suggested;  he  traduces  the 
retired  part  of  my  life,  he  imputes  my  silence 
as  a  crime.  And  that  no  one  topic  may  escape 
his  officious  malice,  he  extends  his  accusations 
even  to  my  conduct  when  associated  with  my 
young  companions  in  our  schools  of  exercise. 
The  very  introduction  of  his  defense  is  to  con- 
tain a  heavy  censure  of  this  suit.  I  have  com- 
menced the  prosecution,  he  will  say,  not  to  serve 
the  state,  but  to  display  my  zeal  to  Alexander, 
and  to  gratify  the  resentment  of  this  prince 
against  him.  And  (if  I  am  truly  informed)  he 
means  to  ask  why  I  now  condemn  the  whole  of 
his  administration,  altho  I  never  opposed,  never 
impeached  any  one  part  of  it  separately;  and 
why  after  a  long  course  of  time,  in  which  I 
scarcely  ever  was  engaged  in  public  business,  I 
now  return  to  conduct  this  prosecution? 

I,  on  my  part,  am  by  no  means  inclined  to 
emulate  that  course  of  conduct  which  Demos- 
thenes hath  pursued ;  nor  am  I  ashamed  of  mine 
own.  Whatever  speeches  I  have  made,  I  do  not 
wish  them  unsaid;  nor,  had  I  spoken  like  De- 
mosthenes, could  I  support  my  being.  ]My  si- 
lence, Demosthenes,  hath  been  occasioned  by 
my  life  of  temperance.  I  am  contented  with  a 
title;  nor  do  I  desire  any  accession  which  must 
be  purchased  by  inicpiity.  My  silence,  there- 
224 


^SCHINES 


fore,  and  my  speaking  are  t]ie  result  of  reason, 
not  extorted  by  the  demands  of  inordinate  pas- 
sions. But  you  are  silent  Avlien  you  have  re- 
ceived your  bribe ;  when  you  have  sp<?nt  it  you 
exclaim.  And  you  speak  not  at  such  times  as 
you  think  fittest— not  your  own  sentiments — but 
whenever  you  are  ordered,  and  whatever  is  dic- 
tated by  those  masters  whose  pay  you  receive. 
So  that  without  the  least  sense  of  shame  you 
boldly  assert  what  in  a  moment  after  is  proved 
to  be  absolutely  false.  This  impeachment,  for 
instance,  which  is  intended  not  to  serve  the 
state,  but  to  display  my  officious  zeal  to  Alexan- 
der, was  actually  commenced  Avliile  Philip  was 
yet  alive,  before  ever  Alexander  had  ascended 
the  throne,  before  you  had  seen  the  vision  about 
Pausanias,  and  before  you  had  held  your  noc- 
turnal inteiwiews  with  ]\linerva  and  Juno.  How 
then  could  I  have  displayed  my  zeal  to  Alexan- 
der, unless  we  had  all  seen  the  same  visions  with 
Demosthenes? 

But,  O  ye  trods!  how  can  I  restrain  my  indig- 
nation at  one  thing  which  Demosthenes  means 
to  urge  (as  I  liave  been  told),  and  which  I  shall 
here  ('xjWain?  He  C()iii])ares  nie  to  the  Sirens, 
whose  ])uri)os('  is  not  to  delight  tluMr  hearers,  but 
to  d'.'sti'oy  tlicni.  Even  so.  if  we  are  to  b(>lieve 
him,  my  aljilitics  in  speaking,  whclhiT  acfpiired 
by  cxiTcisc  oi-  given  by  natui'e,  ;ill  tend  (o  the 
detriiiierit  oi'  1l!os(!  who  gi-;iri1  iiie  their  alteiitioii. 
1  aTii  l)ohl  1o  say  that  no  man  nath  a  right  to 
urge   an    allegation    of    this    nanire   against   ]iie; 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

for  it  is  shameful  in  an  accuser  not  to  be  able 
to  establish  his  assertions  with  full  proof.  But 
if  such  must  be  urged,  surely  it  should  not  come 
from  Demosthenes;  it  should  be  the  observation 
nf  some  military  man,  who  had  done  important 
services,  but  was  unskilled  in  speech;  who  re- 
pined at  the  abilities  of  his  antagonist,  conscious 
that  he  could  not  display  his  own  actions,  and 
sensible  that  his  accuser  had  the  art  of  per- 
suading his  audience  to  impute  such  actions  to 
him  as  he  never  had  committed.  But  when  a 
man  composed  entirely  of  words,  and  these  the 
bitterest  and  most  pompously  labored — when  he 
recurs  to  simplicity,  to  artless  facts,  who  can 
endure  it?  He  who  is  but  an  instrument,  take 
away  his  tongue,  and  he  is  nothing. 

I  am  utterly  at  a  loss  to  conceive,  and  would 
gladly  be  informed,  Athenians,  on  what  grounds 
you  can  possibly  give  sentence  for  the  defendant. 
Can  it  be  because  this  decree  is  not  illegal?  No 
public  act  was  ever  more  repugnant  to  the  laws. 
Or  because  the  author  of  this  decree  is  not  a 
proper  object  of  public  justice?  All  your  exam- 
inations of  men's  conduct  are  no  more,  if  this 
man  be  suffered  to  escape.  And  is  not  this  la- 
mentable, that  formerly  your  stage  was  filled 
with  crowns  of  gold,  conferred  by  the  Greeks  on 
the  people  (as  the  season  of  our  public  entertain- 
ments was  assigned  for  the  honors  granted  by 
foreigners)  ;  but  now,  by  the  ministerial  conduct 
of  Demosthenes,  you  should  lose  all  crowns,  all 
public  honors,  Vviiile  he  enjoys  them  in  full 
226 


^SCHINES 


ponip?  Should  any  of  these  trajjie  poets  whose 
works  are  to  sui-  'od  our  publiL-  ])roelainations 
represent  Thersitcs  crowned  by  the  (! reeks,  no 
man  could  endure  it,  beciuise  Homer  marks  hira 
as  a  coward  and  a  sycophant:  and  can  you  imaij- 
ine  that  you  yourselves  will  not  by  the  decision 
of  all  Greece  of  this  man  be  permitted  to  receive 
his  crown?  In  former  times  your  fathers  as- 
cribed everythinir  glorious  and  illustrious  in  the 
public  fortune  to  the  people;  transferred  the 
blame  of  everything  mean  and  dishonorable  to 
bad  ministers.  But  now  Ctosiphon  would  per- 
suade you  to  divest  Demosthenes  of  his  iLcrom- 
iny,  and  to  cast  it  on  the  state.  You  acknowl- 
edge that  you  are  favored  by  fortune;  ami  justly, 
for  you  are  so  favored;  and  will  you  now  de- 
clare by  your  sentence  that  fortune  hath  aban- 
doned you ;  that  Demosthenes  hath  been  your 
only  benefactor?  Will  you  i)roceed  to  the  last 
absurdity,  and  in  the  very  same  tribunals  con- 
demn those  to  infamy  whom  you  have  (h^tected 
in  corruption;  and  yet  confer  a  crown  on  him 
whose  whole  administration  you  are  sensible  hath 
been  one  series  of  corrui)tion?  Tn  oui-  public 
spectacles,  the  judges  of  our  commoTi  dancers 
are  at  once  fined  if  they  decide  unjustl}-;  and 
will  you  who  are  ai)pointi'd  jikIl'^s,  not  of  danc- 
ing, but  of  tb.e  laws,  and  of  j)ubli(;  virluc.  confer 
honors  not  agrc<'a])!y  1o  the  laws,  not  on  a  few, 
and  those  most  eminent  hi  merit,  but  on  any  man 
who  can  establisb  his  influence  by  intriL'uc'' 
And  here,  in  your   presence,   would   1    i:ladl\" 


r 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

enter  into  a  discussion  with  the  author  of  this 
decree,  as  to  the  nature  of  those  services  for 
which  he  desires  that  Demosthenes  should  be 
crowned.  If  you  allege,  agreeably  to  the  first 
clause  of  the  decree,  that  he  hath  surrounded 
our  walls  with  an  excellent  intrenchment,  I  must 
declare  my  surprise.  Surely  the  guilt  of  having 
rendered  such  a  work  necessary  far  outweighs 
the  merits  of  its  execution.  It  is  not  he  who 
hath  strengthened  our  fortifications,  who  hath 
digged  our  intrenchments,  who  hath  disturbed 
the  tombs  of  our  ancestors,  that  should  demand 
the  honors  of  a  patriotic  minister,  but  he  who 
hath  procured  some  intrinsic  services  to  the 
state.  If  you  have  recourse  to  the  second  clause, 
where  you  presume  to  say  that  he  is  a  good  man, 
and  hath  ever  persevered  in  speaking  and  acting 
for  the  interest  of  the  people,  strip  your  decree 
of  its  vainglorious  pomp ;  adhere  to  facts ;  and 
prove  what  you  have  asserted.  I  shall  not  press 
you  with  the  instances  of  his  corruption  in  the 
affairs  of  Amphissa  and  Eubcea.  But  if  you  at- 
tempt to  transfer  the  merit  of  the  Theban  alli- 
ance to  Demosthenes,  you  but  impose  on  the  men 
who  are  strangers  to  affairs,  and  insult  those  who 
are  acquainted  with  them,  and  see  through  your 
falsehood.  By  suppressing  all  mention  of  the 
urgent  juncture,  of  the  illustrious  reputation  of 
these  our  fellow  citizens,  the  real  causes  of  this 
alliance,  you  fancy  that  you  have  effectually  con- 
cealed your  fraud  in  ascribing  a  merit  to  De- 
mosthenes which  really  belongs  to  the  state. 
228 


^SCHINES 


But  to  urge  the  point  of  greatest  moment: 
should  any  of  your  sons  demand  by  what  exam- 
ples they  are  to  form  their  lives,  how  would  you 
reply  1  For  you  well  know  that  it  is  not  only  by 
bodily  exercises,  by  seminaries  of  learning,  or 
by  instructions  in  music,  that  our  youth  are 
trained,  but  much  more  effectually  by  public 
examples.  Is  it  proclaimed  in  the  theater  that 
a  man  is  honored  with  a  crown  for  his  virtue, 
his  magnanimity,  and  his  patriotism,  who  yet 
proves  to  be  abandoned  and  profligate  in  his 
life?  The  youth  who  sees  this  is  corrupted.  Is 
public  justice  inflicted  on  a  man  of  base  and 
scandalous  vices  like  Ctesiphon?  This  affords 
excellent  instruction  to  others.  Doth  the  judge 
who  has  given  a  sentence  repugnant  to  honor  and 
to  justice  return  home  and  instruct  his  son? 
That  son  is  well  warranted  to  reject  his  instruc- 
tion. Advice  in  such  a  case  may  well  be  called 
impertinence.  Not  then  as  judges  only,  but  as 
guardians  of  the  state,  give  your  voices  in  such 
a  manner  that  you  may  approve  your  conduct 
to  those  absent  citizens  who  may  inquire  what 
hath  been  the  decision.  You  are  not  to  be  in- 
formed, Athenians,  that  the  reputation  of  our 
country  must  be  such  as  theirs  who  receive  its 
honors.  And  surely  it  must  be  scandalous  to 
stand  in  the  sanui  point  of  view,  not  with  our 
ancestors,  but  with  the  unmanly  baseness  of  De- 
mosthenes. 

Think  on  this  ci-itical  season,  in  which  you 
arc  to  give  youi'  \(>iccs.  In  a  few  days  the  Pyth- 
229 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

lan  games  are  to  be  celebrated,  and  the  conven- 
tion of  Grecian  states  to  be  collected.  There 
shall  our  state  be  severely  censured  on  account 
of  the  late  measures  of  Demosthenes.  Should 
you  crown  him,  you  must  be  deemed  accessories 
to  those  who  violated  the  general  peace:  if,  on 
the  contrary,  you  reject  the  demand,  you  wil] 
clear  the  state  from  all  imputation.  Weigh  this 
clause  maturely,  as  the  interest,  not  of  a  foreign 
state,  but  of  your  own,  and  do  not  lavish  your 
honors  inconsiderately :  confer  them  with  a  scru- 
pulous delicacy ;  and  let  them  be  the  distinctions 
of  exalted  worth  and  merit:  nor  be  contented  to 
hear,  but  look  around  you,  where  your  own  inter- 
est is  so  intimately  concerned,  and  see  who  are 
the  men  that  support  Demosthenes.  Are  they 
his  former  companions  in  the  chase,  his  a.ssociates 
in  the  manly  exercises  of  his  youth  ?  No,  by  the 
Olympian  god !  he  never  was  employed  in  rous- 
ing the  wild  boar,  or  in  any  such  exercises  as 
render  the  body  vigorous ;  he  vv'as  solely  engaged 
in  the  sordid  arts  of  fraud  and  circumvention. 
And  let  not  his  arrogance  escape  your  atten- 
tion, when  he  tells  you  that  by  his  embassj'  he 
wrested  By/antium  fi'om  the  hands  of  Phili|); 
that  his  eloquence  prevailed  on  the  Acarnanians 
to  revolt;  his  eloquence  transported  the  souls  of 
the  Thebans.  He  thinks  that  you  are  sunk  to 
such  a  degree  of  weakness  that  he  may  prevail 
on  you  to  believe  that  you  harbor  the  very  ge- 
nius of  persuasion  in  your  city,  and  not  a  vile 
sycophant.  And  when  at  the  conclusion  of  his 
230 


-ESCHINES 


defense  lie  calls  up  his  accomplices  in  corruption 
as  his  advocates,  then  imagine  that  you  see  the 
great  benefactors  of  your  country  in  this  place 
from  ^vhence  I  speak,  arrayed  against  the  villainy 
of  those  men:  Solon,  the  man  who  adorned  our 
free  constitution  with  the  noblest  laws,  the  phil- 
osopher, the  renowned  legislator,  entreating  you, 
with  that  decent  gravity  which  distinguished  his 
character,  by  no  means  to  pay  a  greater  regard 
to  the  speeches  of  Demosthenes  than  to  your 
oaths  and  laws:  Aristides,  who  was  suffered  to 
prescribe  to  the  Greeks  their  several  subsidies, 
whose  daughters  received  their  portions  from 
the  people  at  his  decease,  roused  to  indignation 
at  this  insult  on  public  justice,  and  asking 
whether  you  are  not  ashamed,  that  when  your 
fathers  banished  Arthmius  the  Zelian,  who 
brought  in  gold  from  Persia ;  when  they  were 
scarcely  restrained  from  killing  a  man  connected 
with  the  people  in  the  most  sacred  ties,  and  by 
public  proclamation  forbade  him  to  appear  in 
Athens,  or  in  any  part  of  the  Athenian  territory  ; 
yet  you  are  going  to  crown  Demosthenes  with  a 
golden  crown,  who  did  not  bring  in  gold  from 
Persia,  but  received  bribes  himself,  and  still  pos- 
sesses them.  And  can  you  imagine  but  tliat 
Themistocles,  and  those  who  fell  at  Marathon, 
and  those  who  died  at  Plata^a,  and  the  very  se]v 
uk;hers  of  our  ancestors,  must  groan  if  you  con- 
fer a  crown  on  this  man,  who  confessedly  united 
with  the  Barbarians  against  the  Greeks? 
And  now  bear  witness  for  me,  thou  earth,  thou 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

sun,  0  virtue,  and  intelligence,  and  thou,  0 
erudition,  that  teacheth  us  the  just  distinction 
between  vice  and  goodness,  I  have  stood  up,  I 
have  spoken  in  the  cause  of  justice.  If  1  have 
supported  my  prosecution  with  a  dignity  befit- 
ting its  importance,  I  have  spoken  as  my  wishes 
dictated;  if  too  deficiently,  as  my  abilities  ad- 
mitted. Let  what  hath  now  been  offered,  and 
what  your  own  thoughts  must  supply,  be  duly 
weighed,  and  pronounce  such  a  sentence  as  jus- 
tice and  the  interests  of  the  state  demand. 


232 


DINARCHUS 

AGAINST  DEMOSTHENES* 

(3~M  B.C.) 

Bom  in  Corinth  in  S61  B.C.,  died  in  291;  conspicuous  as  an  orator 

after  the  great  ma.sters  had  passed  away;  three  only  of  his  orations 

have  survived. 

Thus  your  mirister,  Athenians !  who  hath  pro- 
nounced sentence  of  death  on  himself  should  he 
be  convicted  of  receiving  anything  from  Har- 
palus — this  very  man  hath  been  clearly  convicted 
of  accepting  bribes  from  those  whom  in  former 
times  he  affected  to  oppose  with  so  nnich  zeal. 
As  Stratocles  hath  spoken  largely  on  this  sub- 
ject; as  many  articles  of  accusation  have  been 
anticipated;  as  the  council  of  Areopagus  hath 
made  a  report  on  this  inquiry  so  consonant  to 
equity  and  truth — a  report  confirmed  and  en- 
forced by  Stratocles,  who  hath  x>roduced  the  de- 

'  Abridged.  Tlioraas  Leland,  the  translator  of  this  oration,  intro- 
duces it  with  the  following  interesting  note:  "The  occasion  is  dis- 
tinctly recounted  by  Plutarch,  who  informs  us  that,  some  time  after 
the  famous  content  about  the  crown,  in  which  Demosthenes  gained 
so  completi!  a  ti-iuiiiph  over  his  rival  .I'schines,  one  ITarpalus,  who 
liii'l  been  in  the  .-service  of  Alexander,  tied  to  Athens  with  the  re- 
!iiuins  of  an  iiimieiise  fi.rtiiiK,',  which  had  been  dissipati^d  by  his 
1  .xury.aiid  thcn^  souglit  ri'l'Mcrc  from  th(>  anger  of  his  masU'r, 
wlio.^i-  si'vcr'ly  tov.ard  his  favorites  al.'ii'rned  and  prompted  him  to 
this  tli;rlit.  'i'he  oiators  received  his  nion"y,  and  labored  to  gain 
i.im  the  pfoteclion  of  the  stat"  .  .')crriosthenes,  on  the  contrary, 
iii'r'i'd  to  his  count  rymc'i  Mh' (1;i:'_'it  •  f  ■  ■■:  posing  thenis(dves  to  a:i 
ui.ueces.sary  and  unjustifiable  w.i-  liy  entertaining  this  fugitive. 


THE     WORLD'S     FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

crees  enacted  against  these  crimes — it  remains 
that  we  who  are  now  to  speak  (who  are  engaged 
in  a  cause  of  more  importance  than  ever  came 
before  this  state)  should  request  the  whole  assem- 
bly, first,  that  we  obtain  your  pardon  if  we 
should  repeat  some  things  already  urged  (for 
here  our  purpose  is,  not  to  abuse  your  patience, 
but  to  inflame  your  indignation)  ;  and,  secondly, 
that  you  maj^  not  give  up  the  general  rights  and 
laws  of  the  community,  or  exchange  the  general 
welfare  for  the  speeches  of  the  accused.  You 
see  that  in  this  assembly  it  is  Demosthenes  that 
is  tried ;  in  all  other  places  your  own  trial  is  de- 
pending. On  you  men  turn  their  eyes,  and  wait 
with  eagerness  to  see  how  far  the  interests  of 
your  country  will  engage  your  care ;  whether  you 
are  to  take  on  yourselves  the  corruption  and 
iniquity  of  these  men,  or  whether  you  are  to 
manifest  to  the  world  a  just  resentment  against 
those  who  are  bribed  to  betray  the  state. 

And  altho  the  dignity  and  propriety  of  this 

Harpalus,  however,  found  means  to  soften  his  severity  by  a  present 
of  a  magnificent  vase,  accompanied  with  twenty  talents;  and  when 
it  was  expected  that  Demosthenes  would  have  exerted  hLs  abilities 
in  the  Assembly  against  Harpalus,  he  pleaded  indisposition,  and  was 
silent.  This  is  the  sum.  of  Plutarch's  account.  But  Pausanias,  who 
seems  to  have  conceived  a  more  favorable  opinion  of  the  integrity 
of  Demosthenes,  observed,  as  a  jjroof  of  his  innocence,  that  an  au- 
thentic account  was  sent  to  Athens,  after  the  death  of  Harpalus,  of 
all  the  sums  distributed  by  him  in  this  city  and  of  the  persons  to 
whom  each  was  paid;  and  that  in  this  account  no  mention  was  at 
all  made  of  Demosthenes,  altho  Philoxenus,  who  procured  it,  was 
his  particular  enemy,  as  well  as  Alexander.  But,  however  this  may 
be,  the  rumor  of  Harpalus's  practises,  and  the  report  of  the  corrup- 


DINARCHUS 


procedure  have  received  the  approbation  of 
the  people,  Demosthenes  has  recourse  to  com- 
plaints, to  appeals,  to  malicious  accusations,  now 
that  he  finds  himself  convicted  of  receiving 
twenty  talents  of  gold.  Shall  then  this  council, 
on  whose  faith  and  justice  we  rely,  even  in  the 
important  case  of  premeditated  murder,  to  whom 
we  commit  the  vengeance  due  to  this  crime,  who 
have  an  absolute  power  over  the  persons  and 
lives  of  our  citizens,  who  can  punish  every  vio- 
lation of  our  laws,  either  by  exile  or  by  death — 
shall  this  council,  I  say,  on  an  inquiry  into  a  case 
of  bribery,  at  once  lose  all  its  authority?  "Yes; 
for  the  Areopagus  hath  reported  falsely  of 
Demosthenes. ' '  Extravagant  and  absurd !  What ! 
report  falsely  of  Demosthenes  and  Demades, 
against  whom  even  the  truth  seems  scarcely  to 
be  declared  with  safety?  You  who  have  in  for- 
mer times  moved  that  this  council  should  take 
cognizance  of  public  affairs,  and  have  applauded 
their  reports ;  you,  whom  this  whole  city  hath  not 
been  able  to  restrain  within  the  bounds  of  jus- 
tice, hath  the  council  reported  falsely  against 
you?  Why  then  did  you  declare  to  the  people 
that  you  were  ready  to  submit  to  death  if  con- 
demned by  the  report  of  this  council?     Why 

tion  of  Demosthenes  in  particular,  raised  a  consideraljle  ferment  at 
Athens." 

To  this  statement  by  Mr.  Leland  may  bo  added  a  paragraph  from 
the  slcetch  of  Dinarchus  that  appejirs  in  the  ■'  Encyclopedia  Britan- 
ni'-a":  "It  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  Dinarchus  was  a 
Corinthian,  a  mere  resident  alien  at  Athens,  whose  sympathies  were 
in  favor  of  Athenian  oligarchy  under  Macedonian  control.    Little 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

have  you  availed  j^ourself  of  their  authority  to 
take  off  so  many  of  our  citizens .'  Or  whither 
shall  we  have  recourse  ?  to  whom  shall  w^e  intrust 
the  detection  of  secret  villainy?  if  you,  notwith- 
standing all  your  affected  regard  to  our  popular 
government,  are  to  dissolve  this  council,  to  whose 
protection  our  lives  have  been  intrusted ;  to  whose 
protection  our  liberty  and  eur  constitution  have 
oftentimes  been  intrusted;  by  whose  protection 
that  person  of  thine  hath  been  preserved  (for,  as 
you  pretend,  it  hath  frequently  been  attempted) 
to  utter  these  calumnies  against  them;  to  whose 
care  we  have  committed  our  secret  archives,  on 
v;hieh  the  very  being  of  cur  state  depends. 

Has  then  Greece  but  slight,  but  common  in- 
juries to  urge  against  Demosthenes  and  his  sor- 
did avarice  ?  Ilath  the  man  so  highly  criminal 
the  least  pretense  to  mercy?  Do  not  his  late  and 
former  offenses  call  for  the  severest  punishment  ? 
The  world  will  hear  the  sentence  you  are  this  day 
to  pronounce.  The  eyes  of  all  men  are  fixed  on 
you,  impatient  to  learn  the  fate  of  so  notorious 
a  delinquent.  You  are  they  who,  for  crimes  in- 
finitely less  heinous  than  his,  have  heavily  and 
inexorably  inflicted  punishments  on  many.  ^Te- 
non was  by  you  condemned  to  death  for  having 

in  the  man's  life,  so  far  as  we  know  it,  enjoys  our  resiject  or  esteem; 
his  position  must,  at  least,  be  broadly  distinguished  from  tliat  of 
such  a  man  as  JEschines,  an  Athenian  citizen,  wlio,  while  his  city 
could  still  be  served,  abetted  its  enemies;  or,  from  that  of  such  a 
hireling  as  Demades.  In  the  Harpahis  affair  Demosthenes  wa-;, 
beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  innocent,  and  so  probably  were  othe.'-s 
of  the  accused." 

23G 


DINARCHUS 


subjected  a  free  youth  of  Palla?ne  to  Ms  servile 
offices.  Themistius,  the  Araphiduffian,  who  had 
abused  a  Rhodian  woman  that  performed  on  the 
harp  in  the  Ek^usinian  ceremonies,  was  by  you 
condemned  to  death.  The  same  sentence  you  pro- 
nounced on  Euthjanachus  for  prostituting  a 
maiden  of  Olynthus.  And  now  hath  this  traitor 
furnished  all  the  tents  of  the  Barbarians  with 
the  children  and  wives  of  the  Thebans.  A  city  of 
our  neighbors  and  our  allies  hath  been  torn 
from  the  very  heart  of  Greece.  The  plower  and 
the  sower  now  traverse  the  city  of  the  Thebans, 
who  united  with  us  in  the  war  against  Philip.  I 
say,  the  plower  and  the  sower  traverse  their 
habitations ;  nor  hath  this  hardened  wretch  dis- 
covered the  least  remorse  at  the  calamities  of  a 
people  to  whom  he  was  sent  as  our  ambassador; 
with  whom  he  lived,  conversed,  and  enjoyed  all 
that  hospitality  could  confer;  whom  he  pretends 
to  have  himself  gained  to  our  alliance ;  whom  he 
frequently  visited  in  their  prosperity,  but  basely 
betrayed  in  their  distress. 

From  the  moment  that  he  first  began  to  direct 
our  aiTairs,  hath  any  one  instance  of  good  for- 
tune attended  us?  Hath  not  all  (ireeee,  and  not 
this  state  alone,  been  plunged  in  dangers,  calami- 
tics,  and  disgrace?  Many  were  the  fair  occasions 
wliich  occurred  to  favor  his  administrati(ni ;  and 
all  th('S(!  occasions,  of  such  moment  to  our  intei'- 
csls.  (lid  ho  neglect.  AVhcn  any  friend  to  his 
coitntry,  any  useful  citizen,  attcinptcd  to  do  us 
service,  so  far  was  this  leader,  who  is  impatient 
237 


I _^ 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS     ORATIONS 

to  boast  of  his  great  actions,  from  cooperating 
with  such  men,  that  he  instantly  infected  them 
v.ith  the  contagion  of  his  unhax:>py  conduct. 

Is  it  not  scandalous,  Athenians !  that  your 
opinion  of  the  guilt  of  Demosthenes  should  de- 
pend only  on  our  representations?  Do  you  not 
know  that  he  is  a  corrupted  traitor,  a  public 
robber,  false  to  his  friends,  and  a  disgrace  to  the 
state?  What  decrees,  what  laws  have  not  been 
made  subservient  to  his  gain  ?  There  are  men  in 
this  tribunal  who  were  of  the  Three  Hundred 
when  he  proposed  the  law  relative  to  our  trier- 
archs.  Inform  those  who  stand  near  you  how, 
for  a  bribe  of  three  talents,  he  altered  and  new- 
modeled  this  law  in  every  assembly ;  and,  just  as 
he  was  feed,  inserted  or  erased  clauses.  Say,  in 
the  name  of  Heaven  !  think  ye,  0  men  of  Athens  ! 
that  he  gained  nothing  by  his  decree  which  gave 
Diphilus  the  honors  of  public  maintenance  and 
a  statue?  Was  he  not  paid  for  obtaining  the 
freedom  of  our  city  to  Chaerephilus,  and  Phidon, 
and  Pamphilus,  and  Philip,  and  such  mean  per- 
sons as  Epigcncs  and  Conon  ?  Was  it  for  nothing 
he  procured  brazen  statues  to  Berisades  and 
Satyrus,  and  Gorgippus,  those  detested  tj^rants, 
from  whom  he  annually  receives  a  thousand 
bushels  of  corn,  altho  he  is  ready  to  lament  the 
distresses  of  his  fortune?  Was  it  for  nothing 
he  made  Taurosthenes  an  Athenian  citizen,  who 
enslaved  his  countrymen,  and,  together  with  his 
brother  Callias,  betrayed  all  Euboea  to  Philip? 
whom  our  laws  forbid  to  appear  in  Athens  on 
23  S 


DIN ARCHUS 


pain  of  suffering  the  punishment  of  those  who 
return  from  exile.  Such  a  man  this  friend  to 
our  constitution  enrolled  among  our  citizens. 
These  and  many  other  instances  in  which  he  hath 
prostituted  our  honors  can  be  proved  by  authen- 
tic evidence.  ^Vnd  could  he  who  gladly  descended 
to  small  gains  resist  the  temptation  of  so  great 
a  sum  as  twenty  talents  ? 

To  what  cause,  Athenians !  is  the  prosperity  or 
the  calamit.y  of  a  state  to  be  ascribed  ?  To  none 
so  eminently  as  to  its  ministers  and  generals. 
Turn  your  eyes  to  the  state  of  Thebes.  It  sub- 
sisted once ;  it  was  once  great ;  it  had  its  soldiers 
and  commanders.  There  was  a  time  (our  elder 
citizens  declare  it,  and  on  their  authority  I 
speak)  when  Pelopidas  led  the  Sacred  Band; 
when  Epaminondas  and  his  coUeages  command- 
ed the  army.  Then  did  the  Thebans  gain  the 
victory  at  Leuctra ;  then  did  they  pierce  into  the 
territories  of  Laceda.>mon,  before  deemed  inacces- 
sible ;  then  did  they  achieve  many  and  noble 
deeds.  The  Messenians  they  reinstated  in  their 
city,  after  a  dispersion  of  four  hundred  years. 
To  the  Arcadians  they  gave  freedom  and  inde- 
pendence; while  the  world  viewed  thcnr  illus- 
trious c(mduct  with  applause.  On  the  other  hand, 
at  what  time  did  they  act  ignobly,  unworthy  of 
their  native  magnanimity?  AVlien  Timohius 
called  himself  Philip's  friend,  and  was  cornipted 
by  his  gold:  when  the  traitor  T'hoxenus  led  the 
mercenary  forfcs  collected  for  the  expedition  to 
Amphissa;  wli'ii   Theairenes,  wretched  and  cor- 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

rupt,  like  this  man,  was  made  commander  of 
their  band ;  then  did  these  three  men  confound 
and  utterly  destroy  the  affairs  of  that  state  and 
of  all  Greece.  So  indisputably  true  it  is  that  lead- 
ers are  the  great  cause  of  all  the  good  and  all  the 
evil  that  can  attend  a  community.  We  see  this 
in  the  instance  of  our  own  state.  Reflect,  and 
say  at  what  time  was  this  city  great  and  eminent 
in  Greece,  worthy  of  our  ancestors,  and  of  their 
illustrious  action?  when  Conon  (as  our  ancient 
citizens  inform  us)  gained  the  naval  victory  at 
Cnidos ;  when  Iphicrates  cut  off  the  detachment 
of  the  Laceda}monians,  when  Chabrias  defeated 
the  Spartan  fleet  at  Xaxos;  when  Timotheus 
triumphed  in  the  sea-fight  near  Corcyra.  Then, 
Athenians !  then  it  was  that  the  Lacedasmonians, 
whose  wise  and  faithful  leaders,  whose  adherence 
to  their  ancient  institutions  had  rendered  them 
illustrious,  were  reduced  so  low  as  to  appear 
before  us,  like  abject  supplicants,  and  implore 
for  mercy.  Our  state,  which  they  had  subverted, 
by  means  of  those  who  then  conducted  our  af- 
fairs, once  more  became  the  sovereign  of  Greece ; 
and  no  wonder,  when  the  men  now  mentioned 
were  our  generals,  and  Archinus  and  Cephalus 
our  ministers.  For  what  is  the  great  security  of 
every  state  and  nation  1  Good  generals  and  able 
ministers. 

Let  this  be  duly  and  attentively  considered, 

and  let  us  no  longer  suffer  by  the  corrupt  and 

wretched  coridnct  of  Dr'inostlK'nes.    Let  it  not  be 

imagined  that  we  shall  over  \\ant  good  men  and 

24  U 


DIN ARCHUS 


faithful  counselors.  AYith  all  the  g'enerous  sever- 
ity of  our  ancestors,  let  us  exterminate  the  man 
whose  bribery,  whose  treason,  are  evidently  de- 
tected ;  who  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of 
i?:old ;  who  hath  involved  his  country  in  calami- 
ties the  most  grievous;  let  us  destroy  this  pest 
of  Greece ;  let  not  his  contagion  infect  our  city ; 
then  may  we  hope  for  some  change  of  fortune, 
then  may  we  expect  that  our  affairs  will  flourish. 

And  now,  my  fellow  citizens,  consider  how 
you  are  to  act.  The  people  have  returned  to  you 
an  information  of  a  crime  lately  committed. 
Demoslhenes  stands  first  before  you  to  suffer 
the  punishment  denounced  against  all  whom 
this  information  condemns.  We  have  explained 
his  guilt  with  an  unbiased  attention  to  the 
laws;  will  you  then  discover  a  total  disregard 
of  all  these  oifenses?  Will  you,  when  intrusted 
with  so  important  a  decision,  invalidate  the 
judsrment  of  the  ])eople,  of  ihe  Areopagus,  of 
all  mankind?  Will  you  take  on  yourselves  the 
guilt  of  these  men?  or  will  you  give  the  world 
;in  <'xnmple  of  that  detestation  in  which  this 
stnte  holds  traitors  and  hin^lings  that  oppose  our 
interests  for  a  bribe?  This  entirely  depends  on 
you. 

Despising,  tlu^n,  the  entrc^aties.  the  false  arti- 
fifcs  of  this  man,  b't  .justi('(^  and  iiiteurity  be 
your  only  objc-ts.  Consider  the  good  of  \-our 
f'oiintry.  not  thnt  of  Deinostlienes.  'Huh  is  the 
[)art  of  honest.  uf)ri<j-li1  jikIl'cs.  And  should  any 
man  rise  to  ph.'ad  in  I'-.-.vor  of  DeTnostbenes,  con- 
it  1 


THE     WORLD'S      FAMOUS      ORATIONS 

sider  that  such  a  man,  if  not  involved  in  the 
same  guilt,  is  at  least  disaffected  to  the  state; 
as  he  would  screen  those  from  justice  who  have 
been  bribed  to  betray  its  interests ;  as  he  would 
subvert  the  authority  of  the  Areopagus,  on  which 
our  lives  depend,  and  confound  and  destroy  all 
our  laws  and  institutions. 


212 


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